Brand building is a lot like losing weight. Everyone is thinking about it, reading about it, talking about it. Yet very few credit unions are actually doing it.
One of the most important steps to successful brand building is to always look at your credit union through the eyes of your members and prospective members and consider how they will react to your ads, your branches and your collateral. In current businesspeak these are "touchpoints." Every touchpoint can be used to establish and reinforce your brand each time you connect with a member: in a branch, by phone, on a website, through brochures, and all paid media forms.
At each touchpoint you do make an impression- positive or negative. If you are consistent in the way you present your credit union these impressions will build your brand. There are simple ways to establish your brand identity. Consistent use of color, design elements, messages, and personality are your brand building blocks.
Just as losing weight is the simple process of using up more calories than you take in, brand building is the simple process of presenting a consistent look and personality every time you touch members and prospective members. Every post card, statement insert, button, sign and newsletter must be created with brand building in mind.
If you're not sure if your credit union is building a brand grab a pile of your current post cards, ads, brochures, etc., and evaluate them for consistency in look and personality.
Are you building a brand or creating the equivalent of marketing junk food?
Paul Lucas, managing partner of the comprehensive marketing and branding consultancy specializing in CUs and CUSOs, will be sharing his Thoughts on Branding as a regular feature in The Credit Union Journal.
