DDL was contracted early in 2017 by a well known local credit union in Rhode Island for a complete name change and business rebrand. For the past 67 years, members have known it to be Coventry Credit Union. It changed to become Ocean State Credit Union.

Coventry Credit Union was looking for a local Rhode Island agency to execute the following tasks in several phases;

Phase 1 Logo / Color Scheme + Website Look and Layout

 

  • Creation and design of new company logo
  • Website design

 

Our client wanted to reflect their traditional yet innovative values with their new name of Ocean State Credit Union. They wanted the new name and redesign to encompass their ever evolving, innovative values.

We completely redesigned their logo to reflect the new name change and resonate in the minds of their members. The traditional logo was simple, yet effective with a dark blue letter C encircling the word Coventry as seen below. Coventry Credit Union wished to create a logo that was representative of their values, all while still incorporating what the state of Rhode Island stands for.

Old Logo
New Logo

In the new logo, we included a bird flying over the words “Ocean State” to symbolize freedom, flying above the rest of the competition, and to give an ocean feel. We included a seagull to reference the ocean state and a color scheme of maroon and gold to steer away from the traditional, cliché blue that most competitors utilize that was present in their original logo.

Our logo designs included a horizontal, vertical, and acronym format for compatibility on a range of platforms including their website, social media, promotional pieces, etc. The refreshed logo supports their competitive advantage of claiming to serve the ocean state of Rhode Island and its members.

OSCU Logos
OSCU Colors
OSCU Fonts

DDL Advertising also helped redesign their company website [View Here]. This included a fully responsive state-of-the-art site with easy user-friendly functionality. It portrayed their new company colors, look and feel. We wanted to offer users a professional fun vibe that presented them with crystal clear ways to log in to their accounts, contact them and make payments or apply for loans. We also wanted to inform members of current offers, mobile banking options and more.

OSCU Website Preview

In addition to the overall design and functionality, DDL Advertising created a whole new site map and rewrote all the website content. This project took almost six months to accomplish and the DDL team worked closely with the OSCU team and the hired company Digital Insights to successfully launch this website for the day of name change. We are very proud of it.

Phase 2 | New Company Signage and Design. Market Research/SWOT Reports

The DDL team had a significant amount of new signage produced, from printed in-house signage to digital designs. They included the following;

  • Interior identity
  • Directional signage
  • Lobby Posters
  • Statement Stuffers
  • Account Statements – electronic media of new logo
  • ATM screens

We conducted a competitive analysis and market research of their current operations and aspirations for future direction, focusing on how to attract the millennial audience. Through our research, we compiled data on banking habits, usage, and perceptions as well as mobile banking and radio streaming. This research process provided an identification of trends and insights in the credit union industry and shed insight as to how they promote their financial institution in contrast to traditional banks. Our competitive analysis evaluated current and potential competitors in the financial institution industry and their strengths and weaknesses in direct relation to our client. Our analysis identified trends and opportunity to create a brand standard and competitive advantage for Ocean State Credit Union.

Phase 3 | More Company signage, Ad Design, Promotional Products and Microsite

One challenge and concern was informing the current members of the name change before the masses, and at the same time working on an array of other marketing pieces.  They included some of the following;

  • Print ads – Newspaper, Magazine, Newsletter.
  • Brochures
  • Direct Mail
  • Hologram Magnets

The DDL team created and designed promotional direct mailers that included a letter from the President introducing the new name change and a transitional lenticular magnet that presented the old logo to the new. 

These 4×6 mail pieces incorporated gold foil as a way to represent the brand standard and logo color change. The mailers were sent to 17,000 current credit union members as a personalized way to inform them of the new change and maintain their business. It included a website address for members to log onto for additional Q&A.

 

CCUtoOSCU.com Landing Page

The landing page, CCUtoOSCU.com was viewed approximately 1000 times over a course of 30 days and included a copy of the letter, the new TV spot, company animated spokesperson, FAQ and a way to contact OSCU team member. With our website heat-mapping and session-replay technology, we were able to see how the members were interacting with the page. We were able to see most users went directly to the FAQs and very rarely filled out the contact form.

The page was built solely to help ease the minds of the current member base and preventing numerous disgruntled phone calls into the locations. In conjunction with the direct mail piece and this page, out of the 25,000 members, there were very minimal phone calls regarding questions with the name change.

Phase 4 | Custom Jingle and Whiteboard Animation Spots

For the first time, we encouraged OSCU to take a different path for their TV spots.  We approached the production with hip and savvy whiteboard animation spots. We chose to work with a company of eclectic award-winning directors, producers, designers, illustrators, and animators out of NY known as the Whiteboard Animators. The DDL team wrote 120 seconds worth of scripts and worked very closely with the Idea Machine team out of New York with picking a spokesperson to storyboards and voice talent. The produced spots were accompanied by a custom jingle produced by the DDL team. Check them both out in the featured spot running now on local broadcast and digitally.

Phase 5 |  Digital Presence

One of the final phases but very important was a complete digital rebrand, including the following tasks;

  • Implement Brand and Social Standards throughout all digital platforms.
  • Switch all names on digital platforms from CCU to OSCU.
  • Google claiming of locations-Adjust listings throughout the 70+  search platforms.
  • Create a Facebook page profile [View Here]
The DDL team had to spend time rebuilding OSCU online and created a fresh Facebook page to reflect their new name. We also assisted with verifying their page to ensure better placement in search results. Verifying a Facebook page is an important way to establish credibility and authenticity of your brand. With verification, your business is who they say they are and users can find the page more easily. We continue to manage their Facebook page organically with branded posts and banking related tips.

Overall, the DDL team worked effectively and successfully with Ocean State Credit Union to execute this massive business rebrand in an efficient time frame. From research all the way to the final steps of revealing the name change, we delivered results and gained further insight on the credit union industry.

President of this local credit union, Scott Kaplan, shared his viewpoint on the success of the rebrand. “We are beyond happy with the results of our rebrand. This was no easy process, but DDL helped us execute and reveal our new name successfully. We love our new logo and have nothing but positive feedback for all that they helped us accomplish. Thank you so much!”

We were happy to work with the OSCU team to launch this business rebrand successfully and hope to work with them again on future projects!