RICHMOND, Va. -
About one year ago, Call FCU realized it had reached 90% of its potential membership. The CU's growth had slowed down from about 9% per year to 1 to 2% per year. So Call FCU opted to add several underserved areas to its field membership, which gave the credit union the opportunity to reach more than 500,000 potential members. But before launching into its new markets, the credit union decided to take the opportunity to rebrand.
During the next couple of months, the $254-million CU engaged in research with both the staff and its members, which helped it develop its new vision statement: "To empower our members to become the heroes of their financial lives." The credit union associated each verb with a color and created a symbol on its logo, made up of a crown of lower-case "I" letters, known as its "doodad."
Each color represents one of six components that makes their members financially whole: Empower = red, Dream = blue, Connect = orange, Enrich = grey, Build = green, and Restore = brown.
The iDude is the embodiment of one of the "I" letters that make up Call's "doodad."
There are links for each of the six components on Call FCU's website, with options listed for each component. Empower includes choices such as: What's a Credit Union, Who Can Join, Our History, and Branch Information; Dream includes choices such as: Auto Loan, Mortgage Loan, Personal Loan, and Visa Credit Cards; Connect includes choices such as: CU Service Centers, Electronic Bill Payment, and Visa Account Access; Enrich includes choices such as: Scholarships, Teen Club, and Kids Club; Build includes choices such as: Share Savings, Investments and Retirements, and Money Market; and Restore includes choices such as: Credit and Budget Counseling, ID Theft Resource Center, and Hurricane Prep Kit.
"Rebranding is a painful but worthwhile process," said Roger Ball, CEO of Call Federal Credit Union. "In retrospect it created an environment that allowed us to really figure out and embrace who we are as a credit union and to really put it into words and give it a look. Being a left-brain person, it may have been my first lesson in modern art."
The credit union's doodad makes visits all over town, and has its own blog where its visits are documented for members to read. Members can read about these adventures, which include: giving blood and going to a musical festival, at www.icandoanything.wordpress.com.
Though the brand launch only took place a few months ago, there are already some signs of success: website visits have increased more than 35% since the branch launch, assets remain steady at a time when historically the credit union takes a significant dip, members have made positive comments about the brand, and it's becoming common to see magnetic iDudes in staff and members' offices.
Prior to the introduction of iDude, Call Federal Credit Union made good on its promise to be "the heroes" of its members financial lives by launching the "Be The Office Hero" promotion that encouraged people to bring credit union services to their workplace.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.callfcu.org
