Be Bold With Your Brand

	See a flythrough of Numerica Credit Union

The words “be bold with your brand” are taped to the wall next to my desk. Like “carpe unum” (seize one) and “grasp the thistle” (done firmly, you’re less likely to get poked), these few words provide the requisite context for imagining, creating, and delivering a powerful, unique and highly productive branch business model and prototype--and a killer member experience.

Credit unions spend millions of dollars on new branches and remodeling, but few get more than cost savings and a pretty new look. Using video tellers can save up to 35 percent in operating costs, while studies show no increase in productivity. Other than cost reduction in terms of staff size and space, new branch designs are mostly benign in terms of increasing relationship-building and ROI.

Being bold with your brand means more than getting a new interior look and technologies. The brand needs to boldly drive a holistic transformation of the entire experience for members and staff. HR needs to drive new ways for staff to build relationships and maximize their success. Products, services, and methods of delivery need to fulfill the brand promise. The entire branch experience must take members and staff to a new place that clearly expresses the brand in memorable and effective ways.

High expectations should be established for the branching team, consultants, process and results at the beginning of the design and branch prototyping process, and then revisited throughout the process. To do this, a credit union must have a strong brand to start with. Not a rewashing and updating of the existing brand, but a total rethinking of brand attributes, message, personality, voice and target market relevance. This may lead to a refresh of the existing brand, or a complete reimaging.

Is it worth all this work? You bet it is, especially when you consider that you are betting millions on the physical branch experience and millions more in potential target growth and return on investment.

$1.4 billion Numerica Credit Union, Spokane Valley, Wash., is a good example of a credit union that has been bold with its brand, as demonstrated by four new branch locations in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

Numerica CU is the new name for Spokane Railway Credit Union, taken on as the CU headed toward $1 billion in assets. Two years ago, Carla Altepeter, CCE, took the helm. Former CEO of CitizensFirst Credit Union in Oshkosh, Wis., Altepeter brought her branding team, The Karma Group, to the task of evolving Numerica CU’s brand image, including reimagining the message, look and feel, and competitive differentiation. With a solid, well-conceived innovative image—“Life Moves, Live Life—she embarked on translating the new brand into a unique experience in architecture and interior design for members and staff.

The brand experience needed to be progressive, innovative and welcoming. It had to start from a distance as members and the community drove toward the building, and then continue as they entered. The building needed to be simple to understand, while also showcasing a message of housing something considerably more than “banking as usual.” 

Numberica CU’s new prototype could not be a typical financial branch and present a unique exterior experience, previously unseen in the market. The experience must also be different by creating a new level of engagement not seen at other institutions.

The branded structure is composed of three primary elements: A brand tower boldly presenting the new logo image stands tall above the roof; a single sloping roof shelters the member and staff area and connects to the third element, a blue block that grounds the building at the back.

Full height glass walls surround the member service area and a 15-foot
folding door opens on the side of the building as the main entry during summer, connecting the lobby to a community gathering area outside. In winter, the folding door remains shut, but the full height glass continues to let the eyes of the community and light into the branch; the front door becomes the main point of entry.

The results so far are wows from members, staff, and the communities at the opening, as well as wows from within as the branches increased membership and share-of-wallet.

Being meek with your brand is a waste of an opportunity that will impact your CU’s ability to grow and prosper. Board members’ romance with the original SEG, the possibility that some members might be offended, or that it is just too much work are minor compared to the long-term goals of a branding effort translated into physical locations. You owe it to your members and the future of your credit union to live a bold brand.

We know people are the focus of all our endeavors. From experience, we know that a powerful brand can drive a powerful experience for members and staff in the branch and through all other delivery channels if well-articulated and delivered. If you want your staff to truly live your brand and your members to viscerally experience your brand, be bold.

Paul Seibert, CMC, is principal/financial and retail design for CUES Supplier member EHS, a NELSON Company, Seattle.