This year’s “Super Star” contest winners, First Community Credit Union’s Marketing Manager Janna Bergstedt and Marketing Specialist Jill Falck presented “Creating a brand that’s R.I.C.H.” at the New Ideas Conference yesterday.

First Community CU recently went through an entire rebranding with intentions of elevating their brand to make it recognizable, innovative, consistent, and hip – in other words, “R.I.C.H”. While FCCU updated everything, including a new logo, there are many other small things that can be done to update your brand to attract new and younger members. Jill and Janna shared some of the experience they gained during their credit union’s rebranding campaign.

The two had the crowd giggling within seconds of beginning their presentation.   Confident and conversational at the same time, the two gave a professional presentation that was as entertaining as it was effective. It was obvious that this team has great rapport, understanding of marketing, and in the cooperative spirit, a willingness to share their knowledge.

FCCU rebranded because there were varying perceptions of members and staff by branch. The credit union also felt they could risk being stagnant, and saw many inconsistencies in their marketing and business operations materials. Their overall goals were to increase professionalism, to attract new members, and to better serve all existing members – after all, the brand is the face of the credit union. 

While not all credit unions need to undergo a total rebranding, it is important to look at your marketing message and review materials periodically. 

How can these “R.I.C.H.” ideas transfer to other credit unions? Here are some things that our superstars say you should consider:

Recognizable: How do you make your credit union stand out from others?

Innovative: Set yourself apart from the competition and schedule time to be innovative.

Consistent:  Set brand standards. For example, one font in print materials, use specific colors for branding materials (there are hundreds of shades of blue) and use templates for ads. 

Hip: How can you attract new and younger members? Clean up your website, make it visually appealing. Use mobile banking and apps. Give debit card purchase rewards, and utilize free social media.

By the positive reaction from the audience, we can easily say that these two young credit union professionals truly are “Superstars”. First Community Credit Union should be proud of their performance at the New Ideas Conference! Thanks Janna and Jill!