6 minutes
Who says financial institutions have to be stodgy and serious? Certainly not Alex Castley, CHRP, engagement and communications manager at $1.3 billion Integris Credit Union in Prince George, British Columbia.
Castley fulfills the “engagement” part of his title by capturing the public’s attention in unique and memorable ways. He is happy to put on a horse mask and dance on a busy street corner. He’ll pull out all the stops to make people laugh in a tongue-in-cheek marketing video. He’s even been known to take a cream pie to the face.
It’s all in a day’s work for Castley, who was named the 2014 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec in November during CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network in Amelia Island, Fla. He earned the award based on a project that uses fun and humor to attract a younger demographic to the credit union.
“Humor helps to break down barriers and make an organization feel more human,” explains Castley, a CUES member. “It lets people know that we’re not a stuffy financial institution. We’re creating initiatives that differentiate ourselves and get people to recognize us as a FUNancial institution.”
A Youthful Appeal
Castley’s fun-based initiatives have already proved effective in appealing to a youthful audience in the five north central British Columbia communities Integris CU serves.
“When I say ‘fun,’ what I really mean is engagement,” Castley observes. “Engagement is a strategy, while fun is a tactic. Fun is contagious. Who doesn’t like fun? It’s a way to create buzz for our credit union.”
One example of a fun-based initiative is the “Bank, No Thanks” series of humorous YouTube videos Castley created to educate the public about credit unions, while gently lampooning banks. The videos weave in useful information about the products and services Integris CU has to offer. The first video in the series won an award from the Marketing Association for Credit Unions.
Additionally, Castley has tied many humorous antics to Integris CU’s community involvement efforts. For example, various co-workers agreed to participate in public challenges as they reached fundraising milestones for B.C. Children’s Hospital. That’s how Castley wound up dancing in public while wearing a horse mask.
For the “Get Pie-Faced to End World Hunger Challenge,” he and Marketing Officer Mandy DuBois staged a fierce rock-paper-scissors competition. The loser of each of 10 rounds got hit with a pie pan full of whipped cream by a bystanding CU executive. (The real fun starts at 3:20 in the video.)
In these cases, the fun component served the purpose of drawing attention to a good cause and gaining more positive results. For instance, the children’s hospital fundraising drive achieved donations of $10,000, a tenfold increase from the year before. As Castley explains about community involvement, “It’s not the fact that you do those things that sets you apart; it’s how you communicate what you do.”
A New Career Path
Joining Integris CU three years ago marked Castley’s first experience working for a credit union. After graduating from high school, he first worked as an electrician. “In 2009, I decided to go back to school,” he reports. “I attended the University of Northern British Columbia, where I earned a degree in general business and human resources management.”
Castley excelled at the university, earning the Governor General’s Silver Medal Award for the top undergraduate academic student in his graduating class. Since graduation, he has earned Certified Human Resources Professional, given by the Human Resources Management Association in Canada, and was named to the Top 40 Under 40 list by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.
Castley first learned about Integris CU when Dan Wingham, the credit union’s manager of business development and strategic partnerships, came to speak at the university. “It was one of those things in life where someone says something that really resonates with you,” Castley explains.
Wingham was impressed with Castley and recommended him for a position with the credit union. “I recognized the talent in Alex immediately,” Wingham reports. “He’s thoughtful and intelligent, with a keen wit and a great sense of humor. He has a unique ability to create an entertaining message that cuts through the clutter.”
Castley began working for Integris CU in an HR capacity while concurrently finishing his degree. In 2014, he was promoted to engagement and communications manager.
“It’s not a traditional role,” Castley concedes. “It’s a merging of human resources, marketing and communications, which gives me the opportunity to work on making our marketing and social media more humorous and relevant, while also creating recruitment initiatives that better reflect our culture.”
Wingham reports that Castley is a great fit with the overall marketing and communications team. “Alex is one of those guys who pushes the throttle and the threshold, but he does so without being off-putting. He’s an effective change catalyst, getting people to buy into change without coming across as too intense or intimidating. That’s the hallmark of a great leader.”
Notably, Integris CU has seen a 32.4 percent increase in membership among the younger demographic for this fiscal year compared to a 10.2 percent decrease in the previous year.
“This is growth the likes of which we have never seen before,” Wingham reports. “We’ve experienced net growth in all demographics, but especially in the desired 25- to 44-year demographic that we’ve been targeting.”
With Integris CU’s membership currently standing at 25,000-plus, Castley is pleased that his initiatives to inject more fun into the credit union’s image have had such across-the-board appeal. “We achieved our goal of appealing to a younger demographic, while still appealing to the older demographic,” he says. “We’ve helped bring everyone closer to Integris by doing something new and fresh.”
Already a Winner
As one of five finalists in the 2014 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec competition, Castley traveled to Florida in November to present his project. Before traveling, he received valuable coaching from CUES Supplier member, strategic partner, and challenge sponsor DDJ Myers Ltd. (www.ddjmyers.com), Phoenix—one session as a member of the top 15 and two as a finalist.
“It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Castley says. “I already felt I won just by being there.”
Having emerged as the ultimate winner of the competition, Castley will receive a $20,000 educational prize package, which includes registration, accommodations and airfare to two CUES’ CEO Institutes—one in 2015 and another in 2016—as well as additional coaching provided remotely by DDJ Myers Ltd. As Castley looks to his future, one of his goals is to become more knowledgeable about other job functions at a credit union so that he can become more well-rounded.
While he is getting accolades, he stresses that his success to date would not have been possible without the support of his CEO, CUES member David Bird, and his CU’s entire marketing, communications and business development team. In fact, Castley gives kudos to the entire staff at the credit union for their amazing professionalism.
“Fun is what gets people to notice you and gets them in the door,” Castley says. “But it’s professionalism that keeps them there.”
Diane Franklin is a freelance writer based in Missouri.
