Brand New You: 3 Tips for Refreshing Your Credit Union Brand With a Human Touch

What do a tornado, your living room and Siri have in common?

More than you might think. They are all subjects of anthropomorphism – a concept where consumers apply human-like traits and emotions to non-human entities.

News reporters might call a tornado “strong” or “powerful,” just like guests call your living room “welcoming” or “friendly.” Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, is often described as “helpful” or “cheeky.” This phenomenon of attributing human characteristics to non-human entities is deeply ingrained in our culture and plays a major role in how we interact with the world – and with brands – around us.

With millions of brands in today’s marketplace, our culture has led us to develop emotional, meaningful connections with the brands that we know and love. We may choose Whole Foods over Walmart because it’s “healthy” and “ethical.” Or Google over Bing because it’s “experienced” and “proven.”

Humans love to interact with brands that feel familiar, reliable and trustworthy. And that’s why the concept of rebranding or refreshing your brand becomes particularly delicate – especially in the world of financial services.

Changing your name, brand voice or visual identity can be jarring for your credit union’s members, leading to questions about your credibility, security and stability. But, when built carefully, a refreshed brand can also lead to a more consistent, positive experience for members long-term.

Here are three tips for refreshing your brand with both strategy and creativity:

Tip 1: Start With Self-Awareness

Looking in the mirror isn’t always fun.

But, when taking off on a brand exploration journey, it must start with honest conversation. Sure, all credit unions would love to be pioneers in technology. Or have the nation’s highest deposit rates. But, is that really you? Or just what you’d love to be?

It’s easy to focus the re-imagined brand messaging that you’re creating on what you think you’re good at, what you aspire to be in the future or what you’re actively improving. Instead, embrace the story of who you truly are.

For example, Financial Center, an Indianapolis-based credit union, just completed a year-long brand refresh project, re-entering the market with a new look, sound and feel that reflects the vibrant experiences members have daily. While the initial internal conversation began with brand concepts that involved innovative technology or nationwide shared branching access, we ended in a much more authentic place. The brand now showcases our inclusive banking practices, our focus on financial health and well-being, and our team of financial coaches for all of life’s milestones.

As you begin your process, try asking questions like:

• What are we really good at?
• How do our members talk about us at their dining room table?
• What do we do differently than other financial institutions?
• What real-life problems are we solving for our members?
• What brands outside the financial services industry do we align with?

Asking the right questions at the beginning of the process will lead to a more authentic brand voice and visual identity in the future.

Tip 2: Set the Competition to the Side

In a nation with nearly 20,000 banks and credit unions for consumers to choose from, there isn’t a shortage of options for who to trust with your finances.

While the natural tendency of many marketing leaders is to spend time digging into the websites and advertising of local or national competitors – or even mystery shopping their branches – many different insights come from studying brands outside the industry.

With Financial Center’s brand refresh, once our main brand messaging points were established, the marketing team began a deep dive into exploring companies that consumers admire across the country that operate with similar brand promises.

Take Home Depot, which provides an educational and approachable model within its retail stores, for example. In research, the credit union learned that the home repair superstore often hires retired tradespeople to staff their locations so their customers have not only someone to physically point them in the right direction, but someone to give them tangible direction on their DIY projects.

Or Peloton, who advertises with motivational, uplifting messaging in their campaigns – inspiring action and movement in every ad. The Financial Center team wrote a bold manifesto for the brand in a similar style to Peloton, centered around the idea that each morning is a new financial start. Every day could be the one where you can wake up, decide you want your financial life to be different, and use your credit union as a resource to get you there.

As you define your own brand messages and differentiators, consider exploring outside industry leaders to learn about:

• Their brand tone and word choice;
• Their retail store experiences;
• Their customer engagement strategies;
• Their hiring practices;
• Their loyalty programs; and
• Their social responsibility practices.

Then, go have real-life experiences with these brands. Walk into their stores. Call them. Listen to their hold music. Read more than the homepage of their website. And learn how you can model your credit union’s next chapter after their successes in a completely different industry.

Tip 3: Pull Back the Curtain Carefully

Imagine if your neighbor, someone you see daily, suddenly stepped outside tomorrow looking completely different – new hair, new clothes, a different car and talking in a completely different tone. It might make you question if you even knew them at all. And that’s how your members, employees and the community can feel if your brand completely shifts overnight.

When your new brand is ready to hit the market, remember:

You’ve personally known your new brand much longer than others. When working on a branding refresh project, you and your team have spent days, weeks and likely sleepless nights perfecting every word and image. But, that’s happened behind the scenes. While you got plenty of time to get to know the brand during its creation, others didn’t. Don’t underestimate the power of repetition and consistency in the weeks and months following your rollout – keep brand messages prominent in retail locations, on your website, in email campaigns and on social media channels.

You interact with the brand daily, but others may not. For some, checking their account balances is a weekly (or monthly) task. So, continue to drip brand messaging and creative over time to hit these slower-paced audiences when they choose to interact.

Members’ experiences must align with your brand messages. Telling a flashy story from a marketing angle is easy. But living out the brand is much more difficult, especially re-training employees to ask new questions, use new language and follow new formats. Spend time in the field after the rollout, mentoring member-facing staff on how to deliver branded experiences that align with your key messages. People talk about their experiences, not your ads.

So, is it time to reimagine your credit union’s brand? It just might be! Sharing your story in a new and different way is one of the most powerful ways to attract and retain members.

As you refresh your brand, never forget that it’s seen as a person – a reliable, familiar presence that your members deeply trust and admire. And that matters.

Jake Engel is Assistant Vice President of Brand Communications & Strategy at the $872 million, Indianapolis-based Financial Center.