At the Australian Credit Union Convention in 1985 (held in Auckland NZ), time was taken out from speeches, seminars, lunches and dinners to conduct the Australian Credit Union Marketing Awards.

In some ways the customer owned banking scene in Australia 30 years ago was closer in spirit to 1955 than today. While many of the products and add-ons of today were around in 1985, credit unions and building societies were very much separate entities and credit unions still saw themselves as part of a movement working together under the guidance of state and federal peak bodies.

This can be seen in the marketing of the time, much of which was produced by peak bodies and adapted by local credit unions (see our story on the Credit Union Supply Centre here for more on this).

Australian Credit Unions Magazine covered the 1985 Australian Credit Union Marketing Awards in a most fascinating piece. There were 8 categories, some of which were divided into three per size of credit union. The categories were:

Best Newsletter

Best Direct Mail Piece

Best Membership Brochure

Best Print Ad

Best Specialty Ad

Best Annual Report

Best Campaign

Most Innovative Entry

Pictured below are some of the winning entries.