Branding – Salal Credit Union

Salal Credit Union’s history as Group Health Credit Union, and a previous re-brand in 2014, had set Salal up as strategically serving healthcare professionals throughout the Pacific Northwest. However, with the legalization of cannabis in Washington state, and the opportunity to begin financing solar panel installations and home improvements for homeowners, Salal saw itself moving in very different strategic directions than the organization previously planned for. Because of these quick shifts in who Salal was serving, the brand needed a strategic makeover in order to be used effectively.

The process began with a brand audit, focused on discovery around the ways the existing brand succeeded, and where it was no longer relevant. Using board member, credit union member, and employee feedback and input, I led our internal team through the process of iterating and building out brand pillars: Archetype, Values, Mission, Vision, Purpose, and Positioning. Once established, the voice and visual systems followed.

Finally, our team custom shot and animated training videos that helped bring our new brand identity to life, and developed an internal training website that took employees through interactive modules dedicated to each brand pillar. Employees were introduced to each module via an email drip campaign that opened a new module each week, offering bite sized opportunities for our employees to learn a lot of information over a slightly longer period of time.