Client: PSCU Financial Services

Industry: Financial

Challenge: PSCU Financial wanted to expand its current brand awareness in industries other than those directly working with PSCU.

Solution: HCP began working with PSCU Financial Services (PSCU-FS) in 2002, and over the years has provided strategic guidance, coordinated executive retreats, planned sponsorship opportunities and published the annual report for this, the nation’s largest credit union service organization (CUSO).

As a CUSO, PSCU-FS offers its member credit unions both traditional and online financial products and services that are passed along to the credit unions’ members; some of these include credit, debit/ATM and prepaid card servicing, innovative bill payment solutions, a range of ecommerce solutions to facilitate electronic home and mobile banking, and support from 24/7 Contact Centers.

When HCP first began working with PSCU-FS, the brand was not well known outside of the marketplace. The company needed a means of gauging awareness and perceptions, as it expanded its level of support by adding 24/7 call centers and enhancing its portfolio of services. As a means of monitoring brand awareness in an expanding market of both credit union-specific and general service organizations, HCP recommended the initiation of an annual brand awareness study. This study would be distributed to credit union executives—including both member and non-member credit unions in order to understand the unique insights of both groups. The data over time would allow for year-over-year comparisons in brand awareness and permitted expansion to include other variables as they became relevant.

HCP worked with the PSCU-FS marketing team to develop a blind direct mail questionnaire that would address brand awareness of the company and 5-8 of its major competitors. Along with brand awareness, different measures have been incorporated over the years, to give PSCU-FS an idea of how they compare to the competition in terms of recent technology offerings, ecommerce support, range of services, level of interaction, and much more.

In the past several years, credit union membership has been on the rise, as many consumers move their banking from large institutions in favor of the sense of community and security that credit unions emanate. The market of companies offering support and services to credit unions has also grown, in response. This study has served as a tool for monitoring awareness and rankings of PSCU-FS and its competition as changes occur in the marketplace. The growth in brand awareness is significant, when comparing 2002 data to the present.

Within the past several years, due to enhanced awareness, changing initiatives and substantial company growth, the focus has become brand equity, rather than strictly awareness. Various variables are examined, as they relate to brand image, performance, customer confidence, strength versus the competition and member loyalty. This gives PSCU-FS a deeper understanding of the categories of greatest value to its members and prospects so that it may be able to continue to exceed expectations and maintain its holding as the nation’s leading CUSO.