Branding for Credit Unions
Your brand is the total of everything people experience and feel about you, not just the visual components like the logo. A deep understanding your brand is critical to, well, everything – from policy to products to service quality to marketing and messaging.
Differentiation is more than a spiffy logo and motto.
We have a unique, flexible process to help you discover, rediscover, articulate, and understand your true brand; the core of that emotional, authentic, and unique connection you share with your members/customers.
Whether you need a complete rename or rebrand or just a logo facelift, we'll work with you to establish a process and a plan that addresses your unique challenges. We'll help you remember your past, build on your present, and brand for your future.
When should we review our brand?
There are three points when you need a brand review or audit, and possibly a refresh:
Challenges - Declining numbers and you don't know exactly why? Issues with staff engagement? Is a competitor beating you up and stealing your lunch? Review where you are and how to amplify your brand to thrive.
Changes - New CEO? Charter change? Merger? Considering a name change? All of these are excellent reasons to review your brand and make the changes needed to keep growth on course.
Stagnation - Been sort of... drifting along? Are the numbers OK but not great? Is growth starting to flatline? Is the average age of your members going up? Have you heard the words "old fashioned" or "stuffy" lately? Shake things up, get back to your roots, and get that scrappy CU magic going again.
Our Process
Phase 1: Discovery/Strategy – finding common ground
The first step is rediscovering and articulating what is authentic about you. What's the core of your unique emotional connections to your members/customers? We use several tools to accomplish this, including:
- Online Focus Groups - a unique, anonymous process for gathering vital emotional intelligence from staff, volunteers, current and potential members/customers. This is honest, unfiltered data you simply can't get from traditional surveys or focus groups.
- Immersion - Our team will record video interviews with key staff, gathering information to help understand what is truly unique about you, and allow everyone to be heard.
- Brand Audit & Market Research - A comprehensive review of all existing materials, website data, and strategy/planning materials, as well as demographic, market, and competition research.
- Presentation of Results and Recommendations - We'll return to present our findings and strategic recommendations to your Board and Executive team, answer questions, and facilitate decision-making about the next steps.
Phase 2: Implementation – where your brand comes alive
At the end of Phase 1, everyone understands your brand and how it's defined, and there's a consensus on values, audiences, and strategies. Now it's time to make it all come together with world-class creative. Depending upon your needs, iDiz would help with:
- Renaming - We'll help you explore and understand the options in order to make the best decisions. We generate name options, perform initial market research, facilitate decision-making, and arrange trademark searches.
- Logo/Identity, Brand Colors, Typography
- Physical brand materials: Brand Manual, Stationery, Brochures and Collateral Templates, Signage
- Brand Launch Campaign
- Website Redesign, Digital Marketing Strategy and Campaigns