Banks and credit unions want their brands to have power.
So, what can they learn from major companies — Netflix, Apple, Whole Foods — to craft brands that resonate with their consumers? (Hint: The answer isn’t enormous agency budgets.)
Powerful brands solve powerful problems.
Financial Center, a nearly $1 billion credit union serving the greater Indianapolis area, recently completed a year-long brand refresh project. Led primarily by the internal Marketing & Creative Team, the project set out to reposition the credit union as a friendly, approachable wellness provider focused on giving members healthier, more vibrant financial lives.
Here’s how that strategy evolved from studying major consumer brands outside of banking, how we settled on financial wellness, and how we now plan to bring power to our brand through member experience.
Finding Direction in Observing Major Brands
Major brands deliver messaging and experiences that speak to their audience’s pain points.
Take Spotify or Netflix. These brands changed how music and movies were delivered, challenging the long-held idea that selling physical CDs and DVDs was the most efficient and effective way to deliver media. In fact, they not only challenged the idea — they succeeded in putting their rivals to rest and redefining the category.
The global fitness sensation Peloton eliminated the challenges of going to the gym — the drive time, planning exercises, and looking presentable in case you run into your gym crush — and went on to put effective and motivating fitness in millions of consumers’ living rooms.
Applying that to us, our brand became about helping members who are fatigued with difficult financial lives envision something more vibrant ahead. We wanted that story to shine through in our messaging and design, and even small touches like how we speak on the phone.
Brands obtain power by focusing on real problems. The brand becomes an experience fully aligned with that story. And when it comes to the financial services industry, there’s certainly problems that banks and credit unions can solve.
Americans are financially sick. Nearly half of the country admits to losing sleep over money regularly. Depression, anxiety, and stress levels continue to rise. Many of the large institutions are creating programs that encourage overspending, failing to educate and inspire financial health, and charging astronomical rates to our most vulnerable friends and neighbors.
And that’s just not right. We wanted to say, “Enough! We are sick and tired of Americans being financially sick and tired.” We want to do something about it. And that investment brings the brand down into the experience of members.
Read more about great branding strategies:
- How First Horizon’s Branding Strategist Pursues ‘Relevancy’ for Its Customers and Prospects
- How BMO’s Head of Digital Swiftly Navigated an Acquisition and Rebranding
- From Outside Banking: How Brands Should Weather Consumer Skepticism of GenAI
Our Brand in the Experience of Members
Many of the brands disrupting their industries aren’t turning their products and services on their heads. But they are positioning their approach to the industry in a new and different way that helps their customers feel more comfortable and confident. They tell their story through a welcoming, inclusive framework that allows consumers who are nervous—and sometimes scared—to interact without fear or anxiety.
Take the rise of Orangetheory, for example. The personalized, heart-rate-based classes led by motivating, upbeat coaches inspire nearly one million members every day across the globe. Their members show up ready to work, and the coach guides them every step of the way — timing their intervals, cheering on every step and rep, and learning about their lives and goals. This brand takes the confusion, stress, and pressure out of fitness and meets humans at the level where they are.
Why can’t banks and credit unions show up the same way for those we serve? We absolutely can. When our consumers walk into a location, call the contact center, or visit the website, they want to be coached, guided and celebrated. In life, we ask for advice daily. Think doctors, dentists, pharmacists, teachers, realtors, hair stylists, designers, therapists, and even friends.
But why do people go to experts in their lives to ask for advice and coaching for nearly everything — except money? Unfortunately, the answer is often shame, or a belief that nothing can be done. This is where the rubber meets the road on delivering a brand through members’ experience.
Delivering Brand as an Experience
Americans live scary, challenging, and confusing financial lives behind closed doors. When asked privately by researchers at Nonfiction, 37% of Americans admitted they have gone to sleep hungry because they didn’t have enough money for food. 5% have eaten food from the garbage. And another 12% have stolen something due to financial constraints.
Do we expect that someone trapped in a life of financial shame and uncertainty will proactively show up to their financial institution and ask for coaching and direction? Probably not.
We have the employees, the resources, and the knowledge to help these people. But are members and customers hearing and experiencing that in every interaction? In ways where they feel comfortable asking for advice? And in ways that they see us as financial cheerleaders? If not, there’s never been a better time to switch the storyline and put them at the center.
We’ve worked to deliver our brand as an experience rather than only as art and a tagline in five ways:
Start every interaction intentionally. Do the greetings that your employees use feel transactional or human-focused? For instance, swap transactional language like “How are you?” or “What can I do for you today?” with “What’s new?” or “How’s life?” or even “How are you feeling?” to open the door to conversation. When those we’re serving feel the opportunity to share what’s new, exciting, or even scary in their lives, they often will. These insights can help your team coach them, monitor their progress, and build a relationship leading to lifelong loyalty. Just by how we ask the question.
Find ways to track and celebrate milestones. Progress means something different to everyone. Take Orangetheory and Peloton as examples. They deliver post-workout metrics to members daily. For some, seeing the calories burnt adds fuel to their fire. For others, it’s the average speed on the treadmill. For some, it’s simply being able to show a workout summary to friends or family. Encourage your team to dig deep into what motivates each member or customer personally. Maybe for one person, their personal banker needs to check in monthly on their savings goal. For another, it’s your employee setting a calendar reminder to email them on the day of their new home closing that they shared in conversation. Delivering individual experiences isn’t easy — but it’s effective.
Explore motivational, aspirational messaging. While many banks and credit unions lead their brand and advertising messages with product and rate, consider adding life and wellness-focused language to your vocabulary. What’s the benefit that members will experience? Try infusing words like inspiring, confidence, momentum, next, more, life, well, and healthy. While sharing about a 5% APY Certificate Special sounds appealing to a financial services executive, “a healthier, happier relationship with your money” might capture and inspire another audience.
Align with leaders outside of the industry. It’s easy to consider your competition the next financial institution down the street. But what if you re-imagined a financial institution’s role in society as an organization working to improve your audience’s holistic well-being? Explore leaders like Whole Foods that works to redefine healthy eating lifestyles, Lululemon who tells the story of movement in everyday life, and WeightWatchers who is refining their message to focus on goal-oriented language.
Deliver a cross-channel branded experience. Think about ordering pizza. For some, ordering online is a no-brainer. For others, they call the store directly. And for others, it might be a dine-in kind of night. Every one of these consumers deserves to have a positive experience. And one that feels similar when they choose to interact with you in another way in the future.
Do members visit your branch locations and see beautiful, modern lobbies, then call the contact center and hear drab funeral home music? Do they work directly with a banker to apply for their auto loan and have a quick, seamless experience, then receive confusing system-generated follow-up emails?
It’s easy to focus on one issue — “We’re going to improve the digital experience” or “Let’s train our contact center to be friendlier” — but it’s important to look for alignment in experience across the board. In real life, people choose to interact in different ways at different times.
What’s Your Institution’s Branding Opportunity?
If you want to do more than make your brand look nice and truly want it to be powerful, what’s the challenge your story centers on?
Financial Center is uniquely positioned to cure — at least a portion of — America’s financial sickness. Your institution can start in a similar place: Ask the right questions, deliver the right message, and be consistent with brand experience. Customers or members will begin to feel comfortable opening up about their struggles and successes with you.
That’s the moment when your brand becomes real to them. It’s become a powerful brand because it has addressed a powerful problem.
Jake Engel, AVP of Brand Communications & Strategy at Financial Center, oversees corporate communications, PR and brand experience for this leading Indianapolis, Indiana-based credit union. He recently led a recreation of the credit union’s brand voice and experience. With nearly a decade of brand management experience, Engel has spent his career working to reframe credit unions as proactive wellness providers through creative direction, storytelling, and culture.