LAS VEGAS -
Alan Brown, principal and managing director of DNA Brand Mechanics, a Seattle consultancy, and Stephen Black, director of marketing for Tukwila, Wash.-based BECU, said the credit union had a huge task ahead of it from the time it changed its name from Boeing Employees CU. The goal was to create a consistent experience for members whenever they encountered the BECU brand. The problem? Most of the general public did not know what a "BECU" was...a gym? A college?
According to Brown, BECU launched a "Now You Can Join" campaign when it first switched to a community charter. However, he said, advertising messages such as "fewer fees, fatter wallets" were unclear because people had little understanding of what made a credit union different from a bank.
"DNA told BECU its name and logo were okay, but it had a positioning problem," Brown recalled. "We had to increase awareness and position BECU in the financial services category. And, we had to make BECU a more viable option by establishing a unique and compelling position that was different from banks."
Black said he became BECU's marketing director in mid-2006, just as the credit union was preparing to take its message to the public.
"How we position ourselves and how we get people to understand the difference between a credit union and a bank applies to all credit unions," he said. "We wanted to set the stage for a large-scale advertising campaign. It was to be our first in a while, so lots of people were nervous. We had to create internal evangelists for our brand-our employees."
The first step was a series of intensive, one-hour interviews with all associated with the credit union-from the board to executives to front-line staff. Next, BECU interviewed a selection of its members to discover what they thought of the credit union and what it offered.
Brown said BECU discovered a passion and commitment to members "is very ingrained in the culture" of the credit union. He said from the members' perspective, ownership in the financial institution was the foundation. "People like being part of a not-for-profit organization. That is why they joined and why they are still there."
A key to BECU's branding efforts, Brown added, is not attempting to position it against other credit unions. "We are a cooperative; we wanted to position BECU versus banks."
The internal and external interviews led to the establishment of a "brand position," Brown continued. He said the key elements are: a credit union for financially-aware people in Washington state who want to be more important than they'll ever be at a bank, and one that treats every member as the owner he/she is.
A barrier for any marketing or advertising campaign is message saturation, Brown explained. He said Americans are bombarded with more than 5,000 ads per day, and they disregard or simply refuse to acknowledge most of them. Only 6% of people surveyed say they are confident in the messages they receive from advertising, a mark only slightly higher than used car salesmen.
Banks spend almost $8 billion annually on advertising, yet bank ads are the second-most "zapped" by viewers via fast-forward buttons on VCRs or DVRs. Only insurance advertising was more ignored.
"All of this in the hopes of gaining 1% or 2% more customers per year," Brown noted. "The problem is, financial services companies are advertising parity products-checking and savings accounts, perhaps some investments. Consumers distrust their banks, but they have to be incredibly dissatisfied to switch because they think all banks are the same."
Banks respond with ads that have a two-part message: "banks are bad," and, "we're different," he said.
BECU took what it learned from the internal and external interviews and created a brand driver, "Member Inspired," Brown said.
"This mantra boiled down everything to just two words. And we made sure everything we did reflects 'Member Inspired.'"
BECU filmed some of its members telling their personal stories of why they belong to the credit union and how membership helped them to where they are. In addition, employees shot a "brand video" just one week before the ads hit the streets, said Black.
"We had to make people aware who BECU is and what we stand for," Black said. "We were focused on western Washington, and our advertisements took advantage of the natural beauty the Seattle area has to offer."
Print advertisements reinforced key points: membership in BECU is open to any Washington resident, it has a not-for-profit structure, and it offers better rates.
"We realized we can't overlook how the staff interacts with our members on a daily basis," Black added. "A bad experience can undermine all the advertising."
A branding initiative "is not rocket science," said DNA's Brown, who added a brand is more than a logo or advertising campaign. "What is true for your credit union, that is your brand," he told the audience at CUNA's America's Credit Union Conference here. "You are branding no matter what, so build your brand for the long term."
