MERRIT ISLAND, Fla. — Kennedy Space Center Federal Credit Union was flying high.
The $662 million institution ended last year as one of the strongest credit unions in the Sunshine state with a 12% capital ratio, 7% membership growth and 10% loan growth.
But there was a problem.
The name no longer reflected the 60,573-member CU's base. That's because the Kennedy Space Center had significantly downsized following the shuttering of the shuttle program three years ago and Kennedy Space Center had merged in the early 1990s with Halifax Teachers CU.
In fact, the CU was operating two branches at the Kennedy Space Center and 10 branches dispersed throughout Brevard and Volusia Counties, with 98% of membership growth and 95% of loan growth derived from non-space center branches.
So President and CEO Joe Mirachi decided it was time for a rebranding.
"We saw the need to move forward because the member landscape around our credit union was changing," Mirachi said. "We had to make the proper adjustments to match that changing landscape, which would take us to the next level of success and build more value for our member-owners."
Launch Lifts Off
Working with Raoust+Partners helped Kennedy Space Center come up with a simple, yet fitting new name — Launch Federal Credit Union.
"The challenge with this rebranding campaign is more visible than most," said Raoust+Partners' President Olivier Raoust. "The credit union had so much equity in the Kennedy Space Center name; it was going to be quite impactful initially. But it was something that had to be done because of the changing composition of the membership. Plus, the number of workers at the space center itself was down almost 50% from the peak of the shuttle mission."
Launch FCU debuted in June. "Overall, the reaction of most members was neutral to positive," according to Mirachi.
Additionally, the warmer "burnt orange" color, redesigned logo and new tagline of "Go Beyond" were well-received by most existing and potential members.
"Our new name was selected to honor our roots on the space center while being more inclusive to others such as teachers who help 'launch' the future success of our children," Mirachi said. "In the end, we learned that for the vast majority of members, their connection wasn't with the name. It was with our people; they enjoy interacting with each other. Members were most concerned with seeing their familiar, friendly staff members. They were also concerned about account numbers being the same, debit cards still working, passwords not changed, etc."
