From bus wraps to billboards and radio, the rebranding begins in earnest next Monday for the newly merged $475 million Solarity Credit Union of Yakima, Wash.
Solarity is the product of an in-city merger last year of Yakima Valley CU and Catholic CU, both healthy and which competed for decades five blocks apart before combining “as a merger of equals.”
“We're excited to make our first big splash in the community during February as we now have completed the system integration,” said Mina Worthington, president/CEO.
A marketing campaign complete with wide usage of a new logo will continue all during the month, Worthington said.
“We're particularly delighted that the 'Solarity' name has caught on with the public even before the launch,” she said.
She said she has already heard business leaders and others refer to Solarity, abandoning the Yakima/Catholic brands, and “that is pretty cool and seem to bode well for us.”
The “bright and colorful” logo is also appearing on Facebook and social media sites, she said, crediting Weber Marketing Group of Seattle for its work.
Worthington said integration of the two CUs has gone well from the start, adding that management of Yakima Valley and Catholic have long emphasized full communication with members about what was in store.
Asked about the collapse of a merger deal this month involving another Washington credit union, the $432 million Horizon CU of Spokane Valley with the $63 million Montana First CU, Worthington said the key to any kind of a campaign like that is to ensure “your front line people understand the merger and are fully behind it. Your staff has to be 100% supportive so they are prepared and can convey a positive message to members.”
Worthington said she did not realize a merger defeat had even occurred to a credit union from her state “until I got those alerts” issued by Credit Union Times, stressing again such a change in structure “has to be a top of mind issue” within both organizations being consolidated.
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