Mark Arnold :: Blog :: Credit Unions Can Learn Something From TV Show Jeopardy

I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago and heard that the game show Jeopardy was introducing a new category called Alex Meets Auto Tunes. Auto Tunes is a voice enhancement technique used primarily by rap artists to add digital sound effects to their songs. In this Jeopardy category, host Alex Trebek performs the verse of a song with technological help. The contestants have to answer with the correct name of the song. The category debuted with nursery rhymes and folk songs like The Farmer in the Dell, Oh Susana and Danny Boy.

The radio station and a few random blogs “presume” this new segment is the show’s attempt to engage a younger audience. I have found nothing to confirm this however, and from a marketing perspective, I find it hard to believe that such a long running show would jeopardize (no pun intended) its brand to engage young people with irrelevant content.

Think about it. Jeopardy has a very consistent brand and a very consistent audience. Changing one category that doesn’t even appear on every show is the equivalent of a credit union claiming it engages youth because it publishes a youth newsletter a few times a year. Unfortunately, a youth newsletter, on its own, doesn’t engage kids anymore than a folk song does.

The real way Jeopardy engages a younger crowd is by inviting them on the show. There are several college weeks in each season when all the contestants are college students. Last week, Jeopardy hosted kids week. All 15 contestants were school age kids, and all categories were kid friendly. During college week and kid week, Jeopardy doesn’t change its format or its brand. It simply offers questions that are more age appropriate for youth with above average intelligence.

That’s the way credit unions should engage their youth members—with age appropriate products and services. Taking the fee off your regular checking account and calling it a youth account is not engaging your young members. Offering them accounts with age appropriate features and benefits is.

Some credit unions host summer money camps. Kids learn key money skills like writing a check, using credit and making a budget in a fun environment. Some credit unions have partnerships with area school. They offer age-appropriate financial education in the classrooms. Some even make their own curriculum. Some credit unions use age appropriate blogs to start conversations with and among their youth members about financial topics important to those youth. Others also have youth advisory boards.