This creative idea comes to us from Prospera Credit Union in B.C., Canada. The credit union mailed out branded gel packs bearing the message, “Paying taxes is a big headache. That’s why we’re freezing them for 10 years. Introducing the Equity Share Offering from Prospera. Freeze and apply for immediate tax relief.”

Print materials explaining the investment opportunity along with a customized letter were sent in Mylar envelopes with each gel pack. The transparent Mylar envelopes allowed recipients to see the gel pack inside.

Prospera mailed nearly 4,500 packages to a pre-qualified list culled from the credit union’s 60,000 members. Each recipient received a follow-up phone call from Prospera.

Bottom Line: The total cost for the promotion was $42,475, with an ROI that bettered returns on two previous, more-conventional campaigns by 143%.

Tip of the Hat: Thanks to JP Jones for the find, and to Deliver Magazine for their article about it.

Here are recent stories of interest from around the web.
Click on the hotlinks to read the full story.

A Failure to Communicate: Survey says financial brands not saying enough

Ad Quandry: Financial firms not sure what to do, say in tough times

CU Later: Zopa kills U.S. P2P service involving 6 credit unions

1 in 3: That’s how many credit unions in California are losing money this year

Regional Banks: “We’ll take your deposits!”

Green$ense: Citizens Bank will pay you $120 for this green account

Ad Nauseam: Banks burned by their catchy slogans

Ad Slash: Deep cuts in financial firms’ ad spending

Canadian Confidence: Crash won’t crimp Canadian bank marketing

Quad Shot: 4 credit unions merging into 4th largest in Manitoba

How Much? Financial industry Web 2.0 research report for $12,000

Money Monet: Missouri bank opens “art gallery” branch

Tightwad: Could this be the best named bank under the circumstance?

Canadian-based Lakewood and Kenora District credit unions are merging under the new name “Copperfin.”

Last week, the members of both credit unions voted overwhelmingly in support of the merger.

The new Copperfin website touts the merger’s benefits and explains the name change. The homepage takes a creative slant on the merger:

BETTER TOGETHER.
Starsky and Hutch. Peanut butter and jelly.
Lakewood and Kenora District.
Some things just work better together.

When you put two great things together, you get something even better.
It’s about synergy. It’s about community. Most of all, it’s about solutions.
That’s why Lakewood Credit Union and Kenora District Credit Union
have joined to become Copperfin Credit Union.

Copperfin’s new design style is both distinct and refreshing, representing a big visual upgrade in the two credit unions’ brand identities.

The new slogan is “Enjoy life’s possibilities.”

Copperfin falls under the same category of financial names as Red Canoe. These kinds of names are highly unique and creative, they are very trademarkable, and totally unforgettable. Both Copperfin and Red Canoe are the work of Weber Marketing Group, arguably the country’s leading financial naming firm.

Some people have complained that such names make no sense for a financial institution.

Key Question: Who says what a financial name should- or shouldn’t sound like?

Reality Check: There are no rules. If there are rules, they will be summarily ignored by breakthrough brand builders.

Before you rush to criticize a name like Copperfin, just remember: Many of the world’s most successful brands have names that — on the surface — make absolutely no sense at all: Old Navy, Starbucks, Gap, Apple, Virgin.

Key Insights: Name changes are subjected to a level of scrutiny that existing brands never endure. There’s something irresistable about comparing an old name to a new name. And generally speaking, people don’t like change.

Here are recent stories of interest from around the web.
Click on the hotlinks to read the full story.

MELTDOWN FALLOUT

Marketing 180° “Credit” out, “saving” now in vogue as financial industry reacts

Another One Bites the Dust: Wachovia is the latest victim

Oh Canada: WIll one of the Big Six be next?

Chase+WaMu: Impromtu rebranding starts, ads planned

Stop the Presses: WaMu cancels all internet advertising

What the Meltdown Means: AdAge’s big directory of meltdown articles

FEATURE STORIES, OPINION & ADVICE

Interview: Wells Fargo’s Tim Collins is banking on social media

Gen-Y: A very meaty whitepaper and roundtable (PDF)

Insight: 7 videos to build your financial brand

Q & A: Massive interview with a Wells Fargo president

Not Dead Yet: But Barclays chief predicts the demise of plastic cards

Facetime: Video conferencing helps HSBC go green

NAMING

Bank X: This week your bank’s name is _____________ .

Sign Language: Blogger suggests bank needs a name change as it expands

The mystery is over. The name of Canada’s 3rd largest credit union will be Servus.

The credit union’s board chose the name because the Servus brand was created only 18 months ago, is recognized in the Edmonton market and can be trademarked.

Earlier this year, three credit unions in Alberta (Servus, Common Wealth and Community Savings) announced they were merging to create the third largest in Canada, with $9 billion in assets, almost 400,000 members, 2,000 employees and 100 branch locations. The merger left two big questions unanswered:

1. What will the name of the credit union be?
2. What will happen to Young & Free, the phenomenally popular Gen-Y promo from Common Wealth CU, one of the the merging credit unions?

In the comments of a previous post here at The Financial Brand, representatives from both Common Wealth and Currency Marketing, the agency behind Young & Free, reassured concerned readers that yes indeed, Young & Free would survive the merger.

The selection of Servus as the name comes as no surprise. First off, Servus was the larger credit union in the merger. It’s also a far more unique and interesting name than either of the other two options, Common Wealth and Community Savings, which are both fairly generic names. That’s what makes it possible to get trademark protection with real teeth. And the double-meaning behind the name is a nice touch: “service” and “serve us.”

Being able to secure a clean trademark is critical when changing names, a lesson some financial institutions frequently learn the hard way. (For related coverage on the pitfalls of financial trademarks, see today’s article from The Financial Brand on TD’s troubles with the Commerce name.)

Common Wealth and Community Savings have until October 31, 2008 to phase-in the new Servus name.

You can read the official press release here (PDF).

Return to Sender: Banks spent $13.4 billion on DM in 2007 and get $178.8 back

How Many: The ‘top 500’ financial brands ranked from around the world

Picture This: Put your own custom picture on this credit union’s debit card

Check Mates: B of A signs exclusive checking deal with Major League Baseball

Wi-F.I.: Credit union in Colorado is third in U.S. to offer free, city-wide wifi

Fast In Bed: Bankers race beds for hospital charity

In his own blog, Gene Blishen, CEO of Mount Lehman Credit Union, reveals the process by which he chose ‘Textus’ as the name of a mobile phone banking system his credit union is now offering.

The service, known as SMS, allows people to perform certain banking services over their mobile phones by sending text messages.

Blishen said he invited input from “all 10 staff members,” noting that “discussions like these, at this level, are a neat attribute of this credit union. Everyone gets involved, everyone has input.”

But then they got stuck on generational differences: the younger staff aligned under one name, the older under another.

So what did he do? He turned to his friends on Twitter:

“Over the last months there is a group, well it really isn’t a group it is an undefined bunch of people associated with credit unions that actively twitter. Why not throw this one out to the pack of experts and see what comes up? There were some great suggestions but one stood out (thank you Ron!) Textus. This was proposed to the group and was quickly accepted. We now have a new name for a new product.”

Blishen adds his final reflections on using an ad hoc naming committee:

“When I look at this process it is so simple. I imagine we ‘should’ have hired the experts, done the focus groups, etc. etc. etc. Would they have understood the product enough to come up with any better names? It just seems so fitting that the name came through Twitter. A tech name for a tech product from a tech bunch of people.”

If Blishen’s credit union was in the United States, he’d only have to worry about two trademarks on file with the USPTO, one of which is dead and the other is for first aid kits. (Not much to worry about there.)

Bottom Line: Blishen is right. Hiring “experts” might have yielded names as good as ‘Textus,’ but better names? Not likely.

“Wanted: Marketing People. Also, donuts.”

This was the headline of a recruitment ad placed by Coast Capital Savings. The rest of the ad reads:

Coast Capital Savings is Canada’s second largest credit union, and we’re Canada’s number one employer of awesome people. We have absolutely no way of proving that, but we have no way of disproving it either, so we’re sticking with it.

Our business is growing fast. Last year alone we added over 30,000 new members, were named BCAMA’s Marketer of the Year and one of Marketing Magazine’s ‘Marketers that Matter.’ It’s the result of a work environment that people enjoy, where innovation and creativity is strongly encouraged. If that sounds good to you, we should meet. You don’t have to bring donuts, but if you do, we like the ones with sprinkles.

Bottom Line: You can be building your brand with everything you say and everything you do, including your help-wanted ads.

Further Reading: Branding Through Job Postings

Powell River Credit Union in Canada announces it is becoming First Credit Union in this press release. The release says that a new name was needed to overcome consumer confusion.

Dave Craigen, CEO of the newly minted First Credit Union, says:

“The name ‘First Credit Union’ was an easy and logical choice…It honours the dedicated founders of our organization. Through the name First, we embrace and pay tribute to our rich heritage, as well as position ourselves for future growth and diversification.”

(more…)

Windsor Family Credit Union will be paying $1.62 million over 10 years to name a new arena in its hometown as ‘WFCU Centre.’ (The good news: That’s only $1.45 million or so in U.S. dollars.)

It’s unclear if the deal will be evenly divided into 10 annual payments of $162,000, or if there were any additional promotional opportunities afforded to the credit union in exchange for its sponsorship.

The credit union has over $570 million in assets, making it one of the top 30 biggest credit unions in Canada.

After inviting members to submit names, Canora Credit Union in Canada will become ‘Crossroads.’ According to an announcement from the credit union:

“‘Crossroads’ has a meaning that is both physical and philosophical. It represents those moments when one comes to a point where a path must be chosen that will have both large and small affects on one’s life.”

The credit union said the name change was necessary because it needed to “rebrand itself.” It went on to explain that “a new name will help the credit union continue to grow and prosper for years to come.

In its entry form for member suggestions, the credit union gave these instructions:

“Please keep in mind that the name will be the credit union’s primary brand name for years to come. It will be used to represent our services and professionalism to our members across Canada, and to attract new members in our communities and abroad, so the name should not be town specific. It must also be flexible enough to be used with additional services we may provide in upcoming years. We are a growing, developing organization, and our new name must be able to help take us into the future.”

A blog post from Market Insights on the Canora name change urges caution, saying that name changes are not the answer to everything, and that a financial institution needs to embrace the opportunity to revisit its brand as part of any renaming process.