Rumbo Marketing & Grow Financial Launch Plans For 2012 Branding Campaign

Top Quote Current Brand Identity to Remain; Campaign will Synch External Persona with Internal Culture. End Quote
  • Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1888PressRelease) January 05, 2012 - One of Tampa Bay's long-standing financial institutions is about to get a facelift of sorts. Grow Financial, formerly known as MacDill Federal Credit Union, has tapped Tampa's Rumbo Marketing as its Agency of Record to plan and launch a branding campaign. But the biggest changes won't take place on the outside.

    "We like our external brand identity with Grow," said Wes Strickland, Senior Vice President of Grow Financial. "It's when customers walk into the building and use our products and services where we will be launching this branding campaign and making the most changes."

    With the help of Rumbo Marketing, Grow Financial will re-strategize the brand consistency of its financial products and services, employee culture and membership service. The organization feels there is a disconnect with the way it views its products and services, and the way in which the actual customer experience unfolds. Simply put, it's going to work with Rumbo Marketing to change all that. Grow Financial has 18 branches throughout the five-county Tampa Bay area, with $1.7 billion in assets.

    "A brand is more than just the look of a logo," said George Zwierko, CEO of Rumbo Marketing. "It also encompasses the critical messaging and emotional attachment that comes with a company's products and services, as well as the way its employees deliver that experience to members." Rumbo Marketing recently helped Grow Financial launch a Hispanic marketing campaign to promote financial programs and offerings by the organization that meet the needs of the Hispanic community.

    The balance of 2011 will be used to re-evaluate the way its employees view the entire line of financial offerings, as well as a company-wide retraining of its employees to make sure its key messages are properly delivered to customers. The organization changed its visual brand from MacDill Federal Credit Union to Grow Financial in 2007 but felt there was never a comprehensive change internally and within the culture of the financial institution.

    "We didn't view that cultural change as urgent because we fell in that trap of being comfortable in our own skin," added Strickland. "We believe we have the right external brand identity and we now want to have our internal culture parallel that personality so that our membership ultimately benefits on the inside."

    In addition to re-evaluating and changing internal messaging, collateral and synching all aspects of the external and internal branding with employee communications, Rumbo Marketing will also provide strategy for new ways to communicate with current and prospective members, including new marketing programs and a stronger social media presence.

    The organization believes it is externally ready to grow its membership throughout the Tampa Bay area. With these internal changes, scheduled to launch in Q1 of 2012, Grow Financial believes members will see an immediate impression and also generate excitement among prospective members. "You can't plant a beautiful tree in soil that's not ready and expect it to flourish," added Strickland. "We're re-doing the soil so that it's ready to grow an entire forest of beautiful trees."

    About Grow Financial
    Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Grow Financial Federal Credit Union was established in 1955 and now ranks as one of the leading Credit Unions in the nation, with 18 branches and $1.7 billion in assets. Originally founded to provide a safe place to save and borrow money for the military and civilian personnel of MacDill Air Force Base, Grow Financial has since expanded membership beyond its traditional affiliation to include the employees of 1,100 local businesses. Today, the Credit Union serves more than 156,000 members throughout its five-county market area in Tampa Bay.

    About Rumbo Marketing
    Rumbo Marketing is based in Tampa and provides marketing, advertising and branding services to companies and organizations in a variety of industries. Rumbo Marketing also works with U.S.-based companies and organizations to create multicultural and Hispanic marketing and advertising programs that reach people of different cultures.

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