3 branding lessons for 2019

By now your credit union or community bank’s strategic plan is ready for the New Year. Hopefully, it’s a plan to help you close the gap and hold you and your team accountable – where you don’t find yourself overwhelmed by the day-to-day. What we don’t want to see is a plan that mimics that of the chronic resolution-taker.

When you examine what’s holding you back right now, does your brand come to mind? Too often branding is left out of the mix when developing a strategic plan, or it becomes the first thing to blame when things don’t go according to plan. If you believe as I do, that a brand is at the center of your organization, are you heading into the New Year confident or just waiting for the wheels to fall off?

Here are three conversations about your brand that can led to powerful change. Put these in context with your strategic plan for 2019. If you seek meaningful progress, don’t defer on your brand. Take a leap.

Shifting to Future Tense

Just behind low rates and great service, most financial institutions tout their long history. You know what else has a long history? Bankrupt Sears. Wells Fargo was established in 1852, and in 2018 they launched a “re-established” campaign in an effort to earn back trust following some very public account scandals.

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