In addition to Extensia Financial, other CUSOs have undergone rebranding initiatives, such as the BYM Agency in Overland Park, Kan. (formerly Beyond Marketing LLC), and CUSO Financial Services L.P. and its sister company Sorrento Pacific Financial LLP in San Diego, Calif.

Even though it's been known for 20 years as CU Business Partners LLC, Easley likes to call Extensia Financial a new CUSO because it has both new leadership and ownership.

About a year ago, Easley joined the organization, bringing more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and experience as a global financial and risk advisory consultant for Deloitte, a practice leader for McGladrey's banking and financial services, and president/CEO for the $497 million American Frist Credit Union in La Habra, Calif.

Her new leadership team includes David Eberstein, chief financial officer, who served as the former chief financial officer of the $347 million LA Financial Federal Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif. and the $693 million Ventura County Credit Union in Ventura, Calif.; Craig Page, vice president of risk management, who previously worked for CB Richard Ellis; and David Gushue, chief credit officer, who was vice president of lending at the $1.1 billion First Entertainment Credit Union in Hollywood, Calif.

The CUSO is owned by the $1.4 billion Public Service Employees Credit Union in Denver, the $653 million Farmers Insurance Group Federal Credit Union in Los Angeles and the $639 million Great Lakes Credit Union in Bannockburn, Ill.

Easley explained that the derivative word, Extensia, means the CUSO is an extension of its credit union clients by providing them with the expertise and resources they need.

In addition to offering its core service of commercial real estate participation loans, Extensia is expanding its services to include small business lending, risk services and strategic services.

Easley said she receives many questions from credit union executives regarding why commercial lending and why now.

"When you look at it, there has been an increase in this type of lending of around 14% just within the industry, but nationally when you look at the banks and everything else, commercial lending is actually ripe for a lot more participation by credit unions," she explained.

In addition, commercial lending offers credit unions a diversification strategy, as many are coming up against home mortgage caps, she said. Easley also expects commercial property price appreciation to reach double-digit territory as the economy continues to gain momentum.

"We are much more than sourcing loans," she said. "What we are about now is being that extension of the credit union and being their business lending advisor as to how to manage their programs and how to move forward in a way that makes sense to them."

The rebranding experience made sense for marketing CUSO BYM Agency, formerly Beyond Marketing, because it led to a modern identity, fresh ideas and new services.

"The work we were producing was accelerating and in a much more impactful way, but our brand was just not matching up," Kat Anstine, BYM Agency chief operating officer, said.

Anstine led the rebranding initiative for the CUSO.

"We sort of surpassed our [old] brand, and it was time to really look at what our brand really should be, what better relays who we are and what we do," she said.

One of the top ideas developed from its rebranding initiative was a catch phrase, "Right brain creative, left brain results," and new logo. On its website, the agency explains that it leverages the right brain's creative, intuitive side to transcend the traditional, and merges it with the left brain's analytical and logical side to generate strategies and solutions for credit union clients.

To coincide with its rebrand, which was announced during the summer of 2014, BYM Agency also launched a brand new website.

"We wanted to live by example," Anstine said. "Our website is a good example of the elements of a website that we recommend to our clients. We recommend that websites be impactful, visually and include a tone. It should definitely have both of those and be unique to just you. When you look at differentiating yourself, those two pieces are going to be your strongest assets."

The rebranding project also led the agency to offer new digital services.

"We looked at the competitive landscape and we also looked at where we expect how credit unions will be marketing themselves, and we think it is going to very different," she explained. "We think marketing is going to be behaviorally or contextually based, which means while members are searching online for their next purchase, that is when they need to be presented with marketing messages from their credit union."

Anstine said the rebrand created a lot of buzz for BYM Agency and is helping it attract new clients. What's more, the agency recently won three CUNA Diamond Awards for brand and corporate identity, social media and website projects it worked on for the $493 million Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City, Mo.

A rebrand project also attracted new clients for CUSO Financial Services L.P. (CFS) and its sister company, Sorrento Pacific Financial LLC (SPF), Steve Hollenbeck, senior vice president of marketing, said. CFS and SPF are full-service broker-dealers and registered investment advisers that provide customized investment and insurance products to financial institutions.

For years, CFS and SPF offered the Trading Opportunities Program (TOP). Hollenbeck said TOP did OK, but it just wasn't descriptive enough and it didn't say what it did.

However, there was a bigger problem.

"Typically, in the institutional investment world, CFOs have a list of two or three of their favorite broker/dealers that they work with when it comes time for them to invest, and we weren't on that list," Hollenbeck explained. "To get on that list is a tough nut to crack."

In May 2013, CFS and SPF replaced TOP with Institutional Portfolio Solutions (IPS), which included added support and product options. IPS's primary offering is new-issue government agency bonds, in which credit unions invest their excess earnings and deposits to diversify their portfolios and increase their yields.

When IPS launched, CFS and SPF also announced that they would sweeten the pot for credit unions by sharing a portion of the commission from bond sales. Commissions are traditionally paid only to bond sales professionals.

Following the official rebrand announcement, IPS employees sent out emails and followed up with phone calls to their 180 credit union clients, namely chief financial officers. CFS and SPF executives also had face-to-face meetings with chief financial officers to raise their awareness of the new brand and its new offerings.

The aggressive communications campaign informed credit union chief financial officers that IPS could provide them with the exact same quality bonds at the same prices that the big broker dealers offer. But what really grabbed their attention was the commission share offer.

"We got a lot of, 'Hmm, that's a great idea,' from CFOs," Hollenbeck recalled. "Our bond desk here was starting to get calls from CFOs, or when our guys would call, CFOs would take their calls because they heard about this new program and the opportunity for them to increase their yields on investments."

Before the rebrand, about 10% of CFS and SPF credit union and bank clients were participating in their bond trading program. Following the rebrand, that number jumped to 20%, according to Hollenbeck.