Credit union picks ‘Wildfire’ as new name
In response to an aging membership and a decaying telephony industry in Michigan, Communications Family Credit Union announced on Monday that it is changing names and is now Wildfire.
“With any name change, there’s kind of a shock to it.”
– Timothy Benecke
President and CEO
Wildfire Credit Union
“In the last few years, we have found that the Communications Family Credit Union’s name has created some confusion as to who can join,” Timothy Benecke, President and CEO/Wildfire, wrote in a letter to members. “Even though we are a community charter, our name has given the perception that our membership is still exclusive to the communications industry.”
With its recent community charter, anyone in seven counties can join the credit union.
“We wanted something that was short, memorable and distinctive,” Benecke told the Saginaw News.
Old Logo/New Logo
“Conventional credit union names follow a ‘who’+'where’ pattern, a formula that describes the geographic market and industry served,” noted Karen McGaughey, VP Client Services/Weber Marketing Group, the agency who served as the credit union’s renaming parter.
“Many credit unions find these names limiting names and outgrow them, which was true for the old Communications Family name.”
“The name Wildfire is a distinctive name that busts financial naming conventions that many financial institutions follow,” McGaughey added.
“This decision emerged from many months of research and evaluation under the leadership of our Board of Directors and executive team,” Benecke said. “Through this process, we have conducted research with credit union members, community members and credit union staff.”
In his letter, CEO Benecke reassured members that the credit union was well-capitalized, and that the name change had nothing to do with a merger.
People’s reactions to the Wildfire name span a very predictable range of human psychology, seen in almost every renaming situation — not just in the financial industry. The Saginaw News online article about the Wildfire name change has received some 50 comments since Monday. Some of the more provocative observations include:
- You bring in a national advertising firm and this is what they give you?
- I like the name…stands out and different from the rest!!
- Was the name ‘Earthquake Credit Union’ already used?
- Sounds like a steak house.
- I wonder if the marketing firm did a focus group?
- They probably paid this marketing firm $20,000 or more to come up with the name. But lets not blame them, since they offered 40 choices. That [Wildfire] couldn’t have been the best (or worst) one.
- I think the name is different, fresh.
- I will be in tomorrow to close my account.
- You are ashamed to belong to a credit union because of a name?
- Lighten up punkins, there are other things to get more worked up about…
“Everyone’s a critic,” said Mark Weber, CEO/Weber Marketing Group. “It’s the same thing as saying names like Verizon, Kinkos and Wii are stupid.”
Reality Checks:
- There is no new name that will please everyone.
- Anyone can make fun of any name.
- New names aren’t picked to resonate with historical target audiences. They are picked to appeal to future generations, looking 10-20+ years out.
- People are comfortable with what they know, and they generally hate change — it scares them.
- Name changes are subjected to a level of scrutiny and ridicule that startup organizations never endure.
What if a place like BooksOnline.com tried to become Amazon.com? What if the Java Stop tried to become Starbucks? People would scream and spew all sorts of nastiness. They would draw biased comparisons between the old- and new names, dwelling on the “obvious superiority” of the original. Then, like kids in a school yard, they’d make fun with jests and jabs: “Ewww look, it’s Icky Vicky.”
When Weyerhaeuser Employees Credit Union became Red Canoe back in 2006, the first story the local paper ran on the name change drew so many fiery comments — some 350 or more — that the paper ran a second story about the outpouring of comments the first story received. And then the second story got another 250 reader comments.
Red Canoe may have received “a boatload of ridicule.” But, Weber points out, the credit union “had is best growth year ever after strong initial weeks of media and blog attacks.”
Three years later, Red Canoe Credit Union is now an accepted- and well-respected fixture in the communities it serves.
Wildfire is a courageous choice, no doubt. Some may argue the name lacks relevancy, but at least it isn’t an acronym, nor does it try to squeeze in the word “Community.” It is unique, memorable and legally available in the financial industry.
And sometime soon, today’s fuss over the name will be forgotten.
Further Reading: Please contact The Financial Brand for your copy of “The Credit Union Guide to The Name Change Decision,” a comprehensive, 33-page analysis of the strategic renaming issues that apply to any financial institution considering a name change.
Brochure Series
Print Ad Announcing Name Change
Branch Merchandising
Previous related stories from The Financial Brand:
- Copperfin: Another Red Canoe
- Guam Credit Union becomes Coast360
- Credit union picks ‘Aventa’ as new moniker
- Newport News Shipbuilding Employees Credit Union becomes ‘BayPort’
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Tags: Weber Marketing Group, Wildfire
Filed under: CU Name Changes
October 14th, 2009 at 6:25 am
I don’t mind the name change but the TV ad is off. I live in Saginaw and the scene with the woman in the valley couldn’t have been shot anywhere in the Saginaw Valley. If I were a member I would be worried that my credit union had been picked up and dropped in Colorado.
October 14th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Jeffry, Did the Credit Union or Weber Marketing Group offer any additional rationale behind the Wildfire name choice?
Whether you like it or not, it’s easy to see that this name is different and memorable, but I’m interested to know if and how this name is connected to the Credit Union’s membership base, its target members, its markets, and its future goals.
While the goal may have simply been to create something different and memorable, I’d like to see the connection between the name and the CU’s position. As you point out, it is encouraging to see that the name is not an acronym and doesn’t include the word ‘community’ – at the same time, I’m left wondering why a bold name is accompanied by such overused colors (blue and green), and how the logo fits with the name (although I realize that a literal translation of ‘wildfire’ wouldn’t be an appropriate choice).
On another note, I’d like to see information about the name change on Wildfire’s website. It’s almost like someone just did a word replace on the website, substituting the old name for the new, as the About Us page says that the name was changed from Saginaw Telephone Employees Credit Union to Wildfire Credit Union in 1984.
In any name change situation, I think it’s important to highlight and explain the name change in an obvious place on an institution’s website.
October 14th, 2009 at 9:56 am
There’s a link on the homepage that says, “Communications Family Credit Union has adopted a new name – Wildfire Credit Union!” I’m not sure if that’s what you had in mind, or something more.
https://www.wildfirecu.org/files/comfam/1/file/Member%20Letter.pdf
October 14th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I did see that announcement on the homepage, but you’ll notice that it’s dated August 13th, and is nothing more than an announcement that the CU will make its name change announcement in October.
I think this is a big missed opportunity for the CU. In my mind, there should be an explanation about the name – what it means, why it was chosen, etc. I feel like this is especially important in today’s marketplace – imagine yourself as a member of this CU visiting the website expecting the old name and finding a new name with no explanation.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I agree with Brady’s comments–a strong conceptual connection probably exists, but it’s not immediately clear.
My comments mostly address the issue of people disliking the name, from the perspective of the niche banker. Having some people dislike the name is the point. No, let me revise that: having some people HATE the name is the point. Why? Because if you don’t have some haters, you haven’t created a strong enough reaction. You can’t have people who LOVE it without having some people who hate it. Most credit unions want to take the safe route, and stay in the middle ground where nobody can hate it. But they forget one very important thing: creating haters is not a failure; creating no reaction at all is the real failure.
October 17th, 2009 at 5:46 am
The name is distinctive – the collateral – yawn.
When are we going to move beyond the jewel-toned-shiny-happy-people-swooshy-logo-boring brochures? Yikes.
Missed opportunity there in my opinion – edgy name, same old same old stuff.
October 20th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Brady, you are spot on. But don’t go looking for anything that ties this together. These types of companies (Weber being the best or worst at it depending on your point of view) only roll into town, take way more than $20K which is what one member was lamenting in the newspaper, and then slap down 4 or 5 pre-fabricated trendy names that the credit union can pick from.
Sure, they will tell you that they put tons of thought into it: new “creative” hip new name X has some tie back to ancient Rome, there were great philosophers and teachers in Rome, Teachers Credit Union should be called Column or Socrates Credit Union, etc.
I was very dissapointed to see that The Financial Brand was now taking money from Weber because you have lost credability now.
I also wish that I worked for a naming company so I could brainstorm one list of these types Verity, Altura, Golden Paperclip-ish type names and then go peddle them for $100K to the me-too lemming credit unions of the world. That would be a pretty sweet gig!
I also love the fact that these types of companies always push names they can trademark, but in this case Wildfire, it is laughable because they will only be able to get Wildfire Credit Union trademarked and nothing more. For the money you think Weber could allow for at least a little more CUSO and off-shoot braning abilities in the name. There are tons of other Wildfires out there which will limit this credit union.
Lets hope for the credit union’s sake that they don’t get a cease and desist letter from one of the other Wildfire businesses ot there like Wildfire Casino who may just have a claim to some financial form of the name… You never know.
If so, maybe Weber will give a few of the tens of thousands back or they will at least just go down their list and give up another ultra-cool name at half-price or something.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:08 am
@Anonymous – Do you have any examples to back up your assertion that ‘Wildfire’ presents trademark problems?
Weber Marketing Group does more work in the credit union industry than any other ad agency or marketing firm in the world. They have done- and continue to do more name changes than anyone else. It is inevitable that The Financial Brand will cover their work, whether or not they buy ads.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I should be more clear… Sorry about the above spelling errors too, I was in a hurry.
To clarify, I think that your work on thefinancialbrand will suffer from an integrity standpoint because you previously seemed so unbiased, and just today in clicking through the site I found several Weber ads that read as stories. I think you are blurring the lines too much of what is a plug for Weber and what is coverage of a name transition in financial branding. This is a small issue so I will just let it go and remind myself that you spend hours writing for this site (which I love) and you have to pay the bills. Can’t fault you. Just worry for your credibility. Someone told me you work for Weber, so if this is the case, I will definitly let it slide.
As to the part about trademarking- many of these names that companies like Weber push are undoubtedly because they can get them trademarked. The laughable part is that for as clever and unique the name is supposed to be, in most cases, there already are tons of other marks out there. This makes the credit union have to be trademarked as only “CLEVER NAME Credit Union” and not just as “CLEVER NAME”. For the money spent, I think this is weak. (Ironically, I think CLEVER NAME would be trademarkable on its own.
I may have a future in branding credit unions!)
Example: One credit union I know of paid a princely sum for their new name (not sure if from Weber, but a similar company), only to be able to trademark “Clearview Federal Credit Union”. There were about 1000 other “Clearviews” out there and some in the world of finance. Now they can’t find protection in the name “Clearview” for CUSO many opportunities.
This is not to say that Weber and the like don’t try to trademark the clever portion of the name; another credit union paid tons of cash to be named Navigant only to get a letter from a law firm shortly thereafter because they were infringing on a trademark. They had to go back and trademark “Navigant Credit Union” as I recall.
One big problem that I have with Weber is the price they charge to feign that they are understanding a credit union’s history and their community/member base. I can think of many superior names that are just as “edgy” if you really want to call Wildfire that, and yet are able to be trademarked AND still have something to do with Saginaw and the great lakes!
To be fair, at least Weber tries to use real words in new ways like Red Canoe, Wildfire, Copperfin, etc. while many companies (and Weber too) are going with the made-up words so they can get them trademarked on a singular level and not have to be “MADEUP Federal Credit Union”- with no claims to the mark or name other than for credit union services. It is admirable to use real words in new naming ways.
If I paid what I know Weber just charged these poor souls to become Wildfire, I would pray that I never got a letter from Wildfire Casino saying that they have claim to financial portions of the name. And that was just one of the ones I found in my 3 second TESS trademarking search. I wonder if I looked longer would one of the many Wildfires of the world have some rights to come back against Wildfire Credit Union. Is there a Wildfire Mortgage out there? Is there a Wildfire Financial? If not, there will be because I applied for a Federal trademark on those today. (Just kidding.)
But alas, Weber is probably just phoning this one in and doing the Wildfire Credit Union trademark and then calling it a day. Perhaps the credit union should have picked Saginawsis or something from Weber’s list of “unique” names!
October 20th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Out of 500 articles published over 2 years, there have been a total of 6 or 7 articles mentioning Weber Marketing Group. I’ve also given plenty of attention to other credit union marketing firms like Third Degree Advertising and Roust+Partners. The Financial Brand covers interesting and controversial projects regardless of their origin. If you look at all the other naming articles here at TheFinancialBrand.com (such as this example here), I don’t think you’ll see any preferential treatment.
I do not work for Weber Marketing Group anymore. I did once, for eight years, and I’ve never tried to hide that fact. The “About” page has included my complete work history ever since this website was founded. I have done some freelance work for Weber Marketing Group here and there over the last two years, which is common for employees who leave their firms on good terms. I did not work on the Communications Family/Wildfire naming project.
Nevertheless, I’m sorry that this website’s editorial standards fail to meet your approval. If you can find more objective, unbiased and impartial reporting on branding, naming and marketing in the financial industry somewhere else — for free! — I encourage you to do so.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Is this a credit union for arsonists?