After a year on the drawing boards, the $3.3 billion Lockheed Federal Credit Union will become Logix FCU on July 9, a name change reflecting a lessening of formal ties to its original corporate sponsor.
The new brand, rolled out in a series of emails to members, should help the Burbank, Calif., credit union eliminate ongoing confusion over membership eligibility, a problem that has long plagued the credit union, explained David Styler, president/CEO.
“This is something that we’ve agonized over for a long time, and I am getting mixed and understandable reaction so far from members who feel attached to the Lockheed name, something we are equally proud of our history and heritage.”
Nonetheless, “we chose the name Logix because it is distinctive, memorable and suggests a smarter, more logical banking choice,” he added
The new name, he said, “will also feature the tagline ‘smarter banking’ to reflect our credit union’s better rates, lower fees, proactive service, easy access to state-of-the-art banking technology and culture of member advocacy.”
Weber Marketing Group of Seattle provided the creative and the branding package, said Styler, noting it was produced after months of focus group research and internal analysis.
“We’ve served Lockheed Corp. and Lockheed Martin employees and their families for 75 years,” said Styler. The Logix name represents “one of many steps we are taking to positively position the credit union for sustained, healthy growth for the next 75 years.”
Lockheed FCU, with 11 branches in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has 105,000 members and is the largest financial institution headquartered in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.
Styler said that he has long thought the Lockheed name carried enough branding weight, but found that the public still thinks you have be an employee of Lockheed to be a member.
“Even with all the advertising we do, the reader sees the name Lockheed and does not bother to read the copy,” said Styler.
Because of the sensitivity of a name change, Lockheed has been rolling out the notices to members in phases. The first 30,000 members will got an email notices last week “and depending on reaction we get at our call center, we’ll send out the remainder later on,” he said.
While some members understand management motivation “and the barriers to growth, there are some who are sad and emotional about the change,” said Styler.
To accommodate the sensitivities and to recognize history, one change, he said has been to allow images of Lockheed aircraft to remain on debit and credit cards.
Styler declined to put a price tag on the marketing and rebranding project but said the signage will be ready by the July 9 kickoff date.
