Rebranding

Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union

Charleston WV

 

Challenge

Like many other credit unions in the last few years, Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union was facing declining membership numbers and a staff that was unsure about the CU's goals and objectives. The credit union had lost its sense of identity and many members felt disconnected. They needed help in forging a new brand that would reunite both the staff and their members.

 

For help they turned to iDiz and Kelley Parks at Gira{ph}. Our task? To revive their brand with a new logo, all new marketing materials and a completely redesigned web site.

 

Strategy

Pioneer's marketing staff not only embraced their new identity, the incorporated it every where you looked: they repainted their branches, installed all new signage, redesigned their letterhead and product brochures, even painted their Board room. But it was the web site redesign that showed the true love Pioneer's staff had for their credit union.

 

Once the logo was designed, and the collateral under way, we had the basis for redesigning their new web site.

 

Once a new web site is completed and a launch date selected, the launch is usually a low key affair. After the CU’s close of business, we move some files into place on the server, triple-check everything and that’s it. Pioneer’s new site was slated to go live after 6:00 pm on 1/17, Martin Luther King day. We were carefully working through the process when the phone rang at about 6:20.

 

It turns out that Pioneer had gathered a crowd in the closed branch and were having a full-blown launch party for the new web site. The crowd was gathered around a computer hitting “refresh” every minute or so, and they were starting to get a little anxious that the birthday cake might get stale. Fortunately, we were able to make the final switchover about five minutes later!

 

That’s just one example of the kind of enthusiasm and commitment that helped make Pioneer WV FCU's rebranding a true success story. Members raved about the new web site and they received numerous phone calls from people who had driven by their branch and asked if they were new in town. Loans are way up, staff morale is sky-high, and the marketing department (and their CEO) is in seventh heaven.

 

This is why we love working with credit unions.