Heartland hired Dovetail, a St. Louis-based advertising agency, which conducted extensive research including stakeholder interviews with various groups to set the foundation for what the new brand should be. Dovetail talked with staff from both states, the HCUA board of directors, and credit unions with varying asset sizes from across Kansas and Missouri.

"Internally, our team was comprised of the communications department and the senior management team," DaVee said.

Brianna O'Hara, marketing director for the HCUA, added, "We wanted to make sure that the brand reflected what our member credit unions see in us – a true partnership. We wanted the brand qualities to stay true to that, as well as convey trust, cooperation and growth."

Heartland unveiled the new look to its staff first, which took a coordinated effort for all five locations. A few days later, it launched the new brand in tandem with the HCUA's new website.

"No one had seen the logo yet, so the messaging had to be timed just right," O'Hara said. "As the website launched, we sent an email to our members, unveiling the new brand. The feedback we have received so far has been overwhelmingly positive. We have heard that the logo and color palette are fresh and youthful, and that the brand anthem video was a creative way to execute the launch."

Another credit union, the $144 million Park View Federal Credit Union in Harrisonburg, Va., recently made a decision to update its logo and redesign its website.

"Our goal in designing an updated logo wasn't to indicate a change in direction or focus, but to refresh one of the ways our members experience Park View Federal Credit Union at an emotional level," Lisa Lehman, marketing manager, said.

The credit union's plans included updates and renovations to some of its branches.

"As we began to see what we wanted and needed in those branches with a clean, bright and refreshed feel, we decided to at least pursue the option of an update to our logo, to incorporate that in some of the physical branch changes," she said.

In regard to the redesigned website, she added, "We received a grant from the NCUA that enabled us to complete a complete Spanish version of our website – not just specific pages. The other credit unions in our area either don't have any Spanish pages, or have limited Spanish content, so we wanted a full Spanish site to be able to better serve the Spanish speaking members in our community and member base – and be the first credit union to offer it."

The credit union needed to transition its website to one with a responsive design, so that was a priority over the logo update. However, timing a website redesign with a new logo made sense, since the credit union planned to upgrade its website anyway.

The process began in early fall 2015 with a team of four people from the credit union that included marketing staff members, the graphic designer and the president/CEO.

"We worked with iDiz Inc. to guide us through the process of updating our logo, and they also redesigned our website," she said.

For the website, the credit union wanted colorful elements, content in English and Spanish, and a responsive design that would automatically adjust to provide members with the best mobile, tablet or desktop view.

"Simply put, we wanted to make the website easier to use for our English and Spanish speaking members," she said.

The new website and logo went live in late January 2016.

"We announced changes on Facebook and through our statements at the beginning of February," she said. "Our online banking system was updated with the new logo and colors at the end of January as well. We are working to transition to our new logo in various other places over the next few months, culminating with some updates in our branches later this year."

The credit union gave employees advance notice of the changes, including previews of how the new brand would look, so that they would be prepared to answer members' questions after the transition. Employees responded well, and the credit union is continuing to add the updated logo to more materials.

"The first day we had our site set up for employees to order new logo wear, we had seven employees placing new orders, anxious to begin wearing our new logo," she said. "Even things like new letterhead, envelopes and folders provide a refreshed feel and bring energy to employees when they're used now."

Initial member response to the refreshed logo and new website has also been positive.

"Members are enjoying the brighter look with more colors," Lehman said. "We've also received good feedback on the layout, navigation and responsive design of our website."