How do you make a new field of membership feel right at home without the old FOM feeling as if they've been kicked to the curb?
That was the challenge faced by Mocse FCU. The credit union had served educational employees in this San Joaquin Valley city since 1959, but when it expanded its field of membership in 2005, management decided to develop a new brand identity to maximize its presence in its new four-county marketplace.
Tracy Kerr, Mocse's CEO, said the charter expansion was necessary to compete in the area.
"We used to have school employees and their families, plus a limited number of SEGs," she explained. "Because we are known as a school employees credit union, we wanted to get the message out we are more than that. We wanted a positive message; we wanted people to know they are welcome."
Part of Mocse's expansion will be the installation of a new branch in Merced, which is approximately 40 miles south of Modesto, also on California Highway 99. With the new branch slated to open this fall, Charlie Rodgers, Mocse's chief financial officer, said the credit union conducted a bid process to find a marketing consultant to assist with branding efforts. The winner was Redbeard Communications, a Hollister, Calif.-based marketing and advertising consultancy that has worked with other CUs.
"Redbeard came the closest to representing what we want to be," said Rodgers.
Added Kerr, "We wanted to convey to the membership we understand their financial needs and we know how busy they are. We want them to feel they are coming home and will be taken care of."
Greg Hoffman, president of Redbeard Communications, said his pitch to Mocse was a brandscape - a collage of images set to John Mellencamp's 1980s hit, "Small Town."
"We created a slide show that depicted members and values important to the community, including lifestyle and a connection with education. These were real images of real people in real life situations, not overly staged."
After Redbeard was hired, the research began. Hoffman said there were executive-level surveys and interviews with frontline staff. The latter were queried as to the type of membership the CU has and what do those members care about?
"In the second phase, we will do member testimonials," he said. "The membership has stories to tell, from volunteering at the community center to coaching sports teams, there is a lot of local flavor in a small community. And we want the community to know the credit union recognizes their efforts."
Redbeard did not set out to change Mocse's logo, but Hoffman said an updated version-which retained the CU's traditional apple in a "modernized" format-helps communicate a new brand and feel. The company also supplied a tagline: "Bringing Service Home." The tagline expresses Mocse employees and members have the same challenges and ambitions, he said.
Beth Meuser, Redbeard's director of client services, said the new brand and identity will be ready for a "soft launch" by the end of July. "Branch merchandising is our next project," she said. "The letterhead and Visa and plastic cards are done, the Web site is mostly done. We are working with the architects of the new branch to prepare the fixtures that will hold posters."
Mocse's Kerr said the signage, logo and website will be introduced this month. She said the CU has done only limited advertising prior to the new look, because it didn't want to send "mixed messages." Said Hoffman: "We advised Mocse to put off launch of the new brand until the entire experience could be seen at one time."
