Rebranding efforts are common in the credit union world these days, but peek behind the curtain at cooperatives such as Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Southland Credit Union, which unveiled a brand-new logo and tagline last week, and it's easy to see how complicated, demanding and important it can be to rebrand a credit union.

Southland, which has $749 million in assets and about 59,000 members, made two big changes. First, it scrapped its palm-trees-and-mountain silhouette logo, replacing it with one featuring a single palm tree against a blue and orange background. Second, it rolled out a new tagline — "Your future made easy."  It was the credit union's first rebranding effort in 15 years, and the credit union said it plans to have the new logo and tagline on all of its communications starting Oct. 1.

The move highlights the variety of ways credit unions go about revamping themselves, and two of Southland's leaders gave CU Times the inside scoop on why the credit union rebranded, how the process played out and even what it cost. Here are four things credit unions can learn.