By now you’ve probably seen or heard that we have a new and improved look. And while it may seem like our new visage has come out of nowhere, it hasn’t. In fact, it’s the result of two years’ hard work to better understand how New Mexicans feel about State Employees Credit Union.
Our work consisted mostly of a lot…a lot…of research. We held focus groups with members, non-members and staff, conducted surveys, hosted workshops and consulted with outside, expert marketing firms.
Taking a good, hard look at ourselves wasn’t always pleasant, but the feedback we received was what we needed.
This is what we learned:
Our logo was dated and out-of-touch.
When we asked focus group participants what they thought our logo was supposed to be, we got a wide range of incorrect, albeit occasionally funny, answers. (“Two scoops of ice cream,” was one of the nicer responses). For the record, our former logo was a Zia Sun set behind rolling hills.
So while the Zia/rolling hills/ice cream scoops logo has served us well for 17 years, it was time to brand the State Employees Credit Union with a new, crystal clear, modern logo.
In addition to a clear pronouncement of who the State Employees Credit Union serves, we also wanted our logo to reflect that we no longer only serve state employees. Today our membership is comprised of New Mexico residents of all occupations and lifestyles.
So, we designed a new logo.
Yes, we felt it was time for a refresh (so-to-speak). Through the design process our goal was that the final product represented not only the Credit Union as a whole, but also our roots and the cultural heritage of the communities we serve.
Three Rings, or Three Levels of Commitment:
The three rings that encompass the Zia are inspired by what we care about most: our staff, our members, and the communities we serve.
The inner ring: Our commitment to each other.
The middle ring: Our commitment to our members.
The outer ring: Our commitment to the communities we serve.
The Zia Symbol:
The traditional Zia Sun represents the four compass points (north, south, east and west), the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter), the four times of day (morning, noon, evening, night), and the four stages of life (childhood, youth, middle age and old age). We felt that this had a parallel meaning to the level service that we provide; We serve our communities year round through all stages in life.
More importantly the Zia is a sacred symbol in which the people of New Mexico take pride in and identify with. The intent of incorporating the Zia symbol into our new mark was to honor the cultural heritage of our great state.
We needed to tweak our name a bit.
Here’s why: Our research uncovered one unanimous certainty: “State Employees Credit Union” is a long, often misleading name. It takes several breaths to say and doesn’t reflect that we serve New Mexicans in a variety of occupations, ages and lifestyles.
However, we didn’t want to completely change our name. We’ve accomplished a lot great things over the past 58 years as State Employees Credit Union, and we didn’t want to lose our history or alienate the members who have contributed to our success.
Nonetheless, we were—and are—looking to the future, and it was clear that our name had to change if we wanted to make an impression, stay relevant, and continually adapt to changes in our communities and our member’s lives.
So, we moved things around.
As you can see, the new logo deemphasizes the length of our name, meanwhile highlighting the people we serve: all New Mexicans.
Read more about our brand change.