NEW YORK-When it comes to far-flung networks, it doesn't get much more widespread than United Nations FCU's reach.
The $2.9-billion institution not only has branches in the America's largest city, but it also has representative offices in a number of locations across the globe from Vienna to Geneva, to Rome and even Nairobi, Kenya. But that footprint only represents a tiny portion of UNFCU's exposure to the world's financial markets.
Serving A Global Field of Membership
"The UN and its agencies can be found in over 200 countries and territories, so our competition includes every financial institution you can think of," said VP of Marketing Debra Da Costa, who pointed out that 60% of UNFCU's members are outside the U.S. "But as a result we really try to focus on what we do best is service; this is when it becomes even more critical for our members to have an emotional connection with UNFCU."
When she arrived a decade ago, Da Costa "completely re-branded" UNFCU, creating a new logo and totally revamping internal and external communications. The move was necessary, she said, because of UNFCU's unique and extremely diverse membership. "We have developed a communications brand guideline that all of our offices can use that provides a framework and direction on how they should use our logo, and what vocabulary should be used," she explained, noting that every representative office is nearly identical to the others regardless of geography, as individuals who work at different UN locations are not always from that area of the world.
"We were pretty tough on people because we used to see a lot of things that were incorrect with our brand and we were worried that our brand would be diluted...Restricting our offices to focus on one particular background or culture would be a negative for us."
With speakers of more than 30 languages on staff, UNFCU is well-equipped to relate to its members, but Da Costa noted that the "tonality" and brand usage remains the same across the board. The always on-hand employee reference guide is "a lot more detailed than most financial institutions," and includes instructions on everything from how an office should be laid out, to corporate communications, to the way staffers should communicate with members through various channels as a way to ensure clarity and consistency.
"What is proper English [the UN's official language] and what can be quickly diluted, or what is not necessarily grammatically correct is not always readily apparent to a [non-native] English speaker," Da Costa explained.
The credit union does allow for products and promotions to be packaged differently in different offices based on which are most popular. Da Costa said she relies strongly on analytics and hard numbers when promoting certain products, and because the membership is so diverse, the best common denominator to use in marketing efforts is that each member has a strong partner in UNFCU.
Start With Research, End with Research
"My motto is that you start with research and end with research," she continued, adding that just because the credit union takes a more bank-like approach to marketing, doesn't mean members will be emotionally turned off. She pointed to the fact that Generation Y has a more emotional attachment to UNFCU than older generations and credited the institution for being very good at evolving its approach over the years.
"Throughout the 10 years the brand has evolved. Our brand has had to evolve and adapt to meet our members needs."
