Challenge
United Heritage Federal Credit Union is one of the largest regional credit unions in Central Texas and faced intensecompetitive pressure from banks and large credit unions. Its brand was disjointed and lacked credibility. The company’s goal was to acquire new checking accounts, yet its marketing programs did not target the group most likely to change financial institutions.

Solution
We developed a strategic and tactical marketing plan based on a substantial amount of primaryand secondary research. We redefined United Heritage’s strategic marketing objectives and redefined its target market segments to reflect changing demographic trends within the region.

Using our BrandSmart process, we enhanced and solidified United Heritage’s brand, including its positioning, messaging, marketing materials, Web site and identity system. We developed a new tagline “Be Smart. Bank Smart.” to better compete against larger banks and reinforce consumers’ vision of United Heritage as a “banking” center. United Heritage also enacted several operational changes as a result of our research.

Results
The work we created for United Heritage not only was incredibly successful—exceeding its expectations, it has also been recognized as outstanding work by CUNA, AIGA, ADDYs and NCUA.