The Disclaimer: The primary purpose of this blog is to comment on all things branding and marketing for credit unions with the occasional random musing. I have avoided being too self-promotional, but I figure with 50 posts under my belt, I have earned the right to break one of the unwritten blog rules and blow our own horn occassionally. Hey, if famous tech blogger, Robert Scoble can break all the Twitter rules, I figured why not.
I have added a new category called Currency Work. If these posts sound too much like Currency infomercials, skip to the next post, leave a comment or e-mail me to let me know. What I am really trying to get across is that the credit union industry is filled with amazing people doing great work and that I am proud to be a part of it.
The actual post: I love my job. Working for credit unions is very fulfilling. I wrote our purpose a few years ago and I honestly believe what I said: "Simply put, it is our purpose to help credit unions deepen their relationships with members and persuade bank customers to become credit union members. We can’t wait for the day when credit unions have more members than banks have customers."
So getting to do good work for good people is thanks enough. But when I get an e-mail like this, it really drives home why I get up in the morning:
“Working with Currency has been awesome. Your team is professional, efficient and full of personality. From your designers to your account executives, I have enjoyed working with everyone. The best part about working with Currency was your team’s understanding of the credit union system and our challenges and opportunities. Your specialization in credit union marketing and branding helped us create a dynamic, fresh, professional brand that we are very proud of."The branding process that you lead us through was fantastic. From our front line staff to our board of directors, it truly was a collaborative effort. As a smaller credit union the cost of doing a project like this is a big decision. We are very pleased that we chose to undertake this project with Currency and have definitely seen first hand how this will be an investment rather than an expense. From the beginning you said we needed to love our new brand, and I am very pleased to say that ‘we love it.’ Thank you Currency for helping us bring our brand to life.”Sandra McDowell
Sales, Marketing & Operations Manager
First Credit Union, Powell River, British Columbia
We helped launch a new brand for First Credit Union (formerly Powell River Credit Union and, coincidentally, the first credit union established in British Columbia) a couple of weeks ago. Nala and I presented the strategy and the new identity to almost 70 staff members. The new brand was very well received and a real treat to work on. Thanks for the feedback Sandra!
In the first three issues of our e-newsletter (hint-hint, please subscribe), I touched on the various positions that we believe credit unions can take to differentiate. For First Credit Union, we have built a brand around the primary position of the local insider with a secondary position of the member advocate. and are recommending that they beef up their already great member rewards program to combat against any future competing credit unions.
Nala worked through a great brand strategy and Caleb and Kevin established the new brand standards.
I was so thrilled by this letter, that I asked Sandra if I could post it here. We had a great time working with the core brand team. It was a great experience.
Tim