Case Study: Allegiance CU
Renaming Strategy and Branding Campaign
Background:
Federal Employees Credit Union (FECU) had been in operation for 40 years as a federally chartered credit union with a large member base of loyal federal employees. Due to changing legislation FECU was opening its membership to the community and needed a new name to reflect the change and a new marketing campaign to introduce their new brand.
Campaign Goals:
- Gain consensus among the board, executive team, staff and membership on the core value, new identity and marketing strategy
- Develop a strategy for launch of the new name and develop a campaign that would capture the essence of what the credit union represents.
- Establish graphic standards for internal use
- Because FECU was involved in the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah building bombing, maintaining relevance to the federal employee base and honoring those victims as a factor in the naming process.
Name/Logo/Tagline
Approach:
Third Degree conducted Priority Reasoning ™ sessions among members and potential members. After the brand discovery phase, a naming list was developed while allowing the membership to submit their own ideas via the Internet or at branch locations. Final names, logo designs and creative interpretations were tested in one-on-one membership sessions and via the Internet. In total, more than 250 members participated in the naming, logo and creative interpretation testing.
Trends:
Brand discovery revealed the following perceptions:
FECU provides friendly and courteous service.
FECU is member-focused, reliable and responsive.
FECU provides competitive loan rates and fewer fees.
Allegiance Credit Union was the new name selected. It was based on the loyalty felt between the membership and credit union, and was a tie to the credit union's patriotic and deeply rooted history.
Outdoor
Deliverable:
A comprehensive marketing plan was developed which included ways to soften the transition of the new name with existing membership. A teaser pre-launch campaign for the general public was then executed. The launch consisted of print ads and outdoor and the official May 1, 2003 launch unveiled the new name and brand identity.
The new identity brought a change to corporate materials,signage, point-of-sale, web site - and even a new mascot. External advertising includes a radio campaign, outdoor campaign and direct mail campaign.