Change Your Name. Blaze Your Trail.

The National Credit Union Administration approved 26 mergers in the first quarter of 2024. Although the number was lower than the same period in 2023 and 2022, the increasing popularity of mergers between equals presents marketers and leadership teams with some distinctive challenges.

From communicating effectively to selecting a name that reflects the legacies of both organizations, rebranding after a merger is a complex undertaking that often occurs under a compressed timeline.

In 2024, SPIRE Credit Union and Hiway Credit Union merged to form Blaze Credit Union ($4.2B, Falcon Heights, MN). At the time, Lisa Lehman was vice president of marketing and business development at SPIRE. Today, she is vice president of marketing at Blaze Credit Union, and here she shares insights from the newly formed cooperative’s rebranding experience.

What was the first thing you did after learning about the merger?

Lisa Lehman: It was a big change for us and a little bit of a surprise at first. Both credit unions had strong brands and awareness in our market. Since this was a merger of equals, we knew we had to change the name to create a new cooperative with a new vision. Once everybody got around that idea, the actions we needed to take became much clearer, and it was easier to start having conversations.

What kinds of conversations did you have during the process?

LL: We began by brainstorming about who we want to be, what our history is, how we define our values, what our future will look like, and what messages we want to put into the market.

During the initial stages, it was just a few senior leaders involved in the discussion. We also interviewed several people from each organization to better understand their thoughts and what their credit union was all about.

As we went further into the process, the marketing teams from both organizations along with an outside agency and a couple of executives led the charge to rebrand. It was largely behind-the-scenes at that point as we didn’t know whether the merger would be approved, but we had to get things ready to go.

What considerations went into selecting the new name?

LL: We talked about our history and our fields of membership. One of Hiway’s biggest select employee groups (SEG) was the Minnesota Department of Transportation, so a lot of its branding was around highways and roads. SPIRE was very much community-based and had a history of serving a lot of different SEGs.

We had a pick-up truck mascot named Archie after our founder Edgar Archer. That pick-up truck tied in nicely to the road that was so prevalent in Hiway’s brand, so we started going down that path and discussing the road of life and blazing trails. We knew we wanted an action word and a real word that people could see and understand easily.

What did it take to come to a name all parties agreed on?

LL: Naturally, there were a lot of opinions. It’s not any different from naming a child on some level.

A marketer’s job is to tell the story and that’s what we needed to do throughout this process. You can’t sell a secret, which is why we are so focused on clearly explaining Blaze — what it means and how it ties back to our mission and vision. Of course, it was also vital for the CEO and board chair to be on board.

What were your main concerns regarding rebranding? How did you address those?

LL: No matter what name you pick, not everyone’s going to be happy. Some will like it more than others. Employees and members alike both had very strong affiliations with our old names. We tried to be positive about the change. We talked about what it meant and pointed out the additional benefits we can now bring to our community, members, and employees.

We really took the best of both words from Hiway and SPIRE. Through this merger, the staff got access to better benefits and our members benefited through more branches and more access. Soon, they’ll also enjoy the upgraded digital banking system we’re working on.

Overall, our approach has been to consistently focus on the benefits and how this helps us compete in the market.

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How else did you communicate?

LL: Once the members voted in favor, we moved quickly. We hosted a name launch party with our 600-plus associates in November 2023. It was a nice event that included dinner and a program with a lot of information about why we were changing to Blaze, what it meant, why we selected these colors for the new brand, etc.

The official name change happened Jan. 1, 2024, so the timing was great. It helped us build excitement and prepare our team to talk to members and people on the street about the new brand. We all get questions. Our community wants to know: Why? What does Blaze mean?

Also, swag. Team members really want items with the new logo, so we created cool new pieces, including corporate wear, that our folks love.

What positive results have you seen to date?

LL: We’re very happy with where we are today. People are connecting the dots, and we’re seeing a record number of new checking accounts opened in just the past six months since we’ve become Blaze.

We’re still in the process of changing all our signage. We couldn’t start changing prematurely, and we have 27, soon to be 28, branches. However, that will all be done by the end of the summer.

What closing advice do you have for other credit unions?

LL: You need to get the right people in the room, including leadership, board, and marketing representatives from both credit unions. It’s important not only to get their buy-in but also to hear their voices and share their stories.

Rebranding after a merger requires marrying the past with where you want to go in the future. At the end of the day, your brand should help tell your story. How your credit union is different from other financial institutions and how you use that difference to benefit your marketplace are what make you stand out.

— This interview has been edited and condensed.