The new year is a good time to rebrand a credit union, according to one expert, and three credit unions have done just that by kicking off 2016 with new names and new looks.

Kearny, Neb.-based Kearney FCU became Trius FCU in December, according to the financial institution. It has about $14.5 million in assets and 2,800 members.

Founded in 1967, the credit union was first known as Third Kearney FCU. It became Kearney FCU in 1981, and was party to five subsequent mergers, according to the credit union.

United Educational Credit Union, based in Battle Creek, Mich., changed its name to BlueOx Credit Union on Jan. 1. The $121 million credit union has 14,000 members and began in 1936 as the Battle Creek Teachers Association Credit Union.

In 1958, it changed its name to School Employees Credit Union. In 1999, it became United Educational Credit Union.

“The BlueOx name is a nod to the Midwestern folklore tales of Paul Bunyan and Babe. The character traits represented in the tales strongly represent our members, our credit union, our local community and our state,” it said in a statement.

Robins Federal Credit Union also revealed a new name for 2016. The Warner Robins, Ga.-based credit union became Robins Financial Credit Union on Jan. 1 after switching from a federal to state charter. Dating back to the 1950s, the 19-branch cooperative has $2 billion in assets and 164,000 members.

The makeovers are the latest in an onslaught of branding transformations in the industry.

Expanded fields of membership are driving much of that change, according to Susan Weissman, who is president of marketing agency Dovetail in St. Louis, Mo. The ability to attract people in new geographic areas and employer groups, for example, created identity challenges for many of her credit union clients due to their names, she said.

“It really was that they were named after very specific groups,” she explained. “They no longer served only those groups; they served those groups and more. It was narrowing. It actually was expressing that they're only for a certain kind of people when they have a broader field of membership. They really had to change their name to properly communicate who they were.”

However, the trick is knowing exactly when it's time to make that name change, Weissman said.

“In the ideal world, when you know you're going outside of that membership, that's the time to change the name,” she said. “You don't really want to wait and try to market to a bunch of people who aren't in that group with a name that really says, 'We're not for you.' Again, in the not-perfect world, you might have to get to 20% or 25% before you can get all the executives that need to support the name change to agree that it's time. I would say before 30%.”

Developing a new name can take two or three months and cost $20,000 to $25,000, Weissman noted. That excludes the cost to change all the logos, taglines, URLs, trademarks and signage, which can take another six months to tackle.

“Of course, it's ideal to just, January 1 we're going to be 'X', and that's it,” she said. In the real world, it's more of an ongoing process, she added.

“You don't just throw everything away that had the old name the day you have the new name,” she said.

Two things are important to remember when choosing new names, Weissman added, and it's harder than it looks.

“One is whether or not it makes sense to be descriptive and appeal to the rational side of one's brain, or whether to be more aspirational and just appeal to emotion,” she explained. “It peaks another filter we use when we think about names: does it create interest or inspire curiosity?”

“There's a lot of brainstorming coming up with lots of names and then weeding down to make sure it's ownable and it strategically supports where you're trying to take the organization. Then you have to get everybody to agree. It's a little bit like naming your baby,” she said.

Instant Insights /

3 Credit Unions Ring in 2016 With New Names

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