Having a familiar “brand” helps make new customer acquisition easier.

Fortunately, there are a wide assortment of strategies and tactics to create brand awareness for your bank or credit union.

One of my favorite strategies has a very long history – it’s the ubiquitous outdoor sign.  Over the centuries, signs have evolved from simple placards on trees and poles and in windows to today’s large billboards visible almost everywhere.

What got me to thinking about the branding role of billboards was Joe’s blog last Thursday announcing a free webinar titled “The Five Key Elements to a Successful Customer Acquisition Strategy.”  This informative free webinar is being held tomorrow, Wednesday, August 7, 2012. Details are available here.

I connected billboard use and branding as a result of the Golden1 Credit Union headquartered in Sacramento.  It’s where my family and many of our friends do their banking.

You see, it is tough to avoid a Golden1 billboard message when driving around Sacramento.  After a while, you’d think they own the best billboard locations throughout the area – and probably do.

And unlike most banks and credit unions dabbling with billboards, Golden1 has a year-round billboard presence in the same locations.

In fact, despite the fact that Sacramento is served by a wide variety of banks and credit unions – large and small – only Golden1 maintains a consistent presence month after month, year after year.

These huge billboards bearing the familiar Golden1 name and logo help burn the Golden1 brand into the minds of the million-plus residents in greater Sacramento.

While I’ve never seen any research to this effect, I suspect that if a random sample of Sacramento-area residents were asked to name the most familiar bank or credit union in the area, Golden1 would either top the list or come very close.

You simply can’t avoid seeing all those Golden1 billboard messages around town.

And not only does Golden1 dominate billboards in the area, it is very good at keeping its billboard messages short and to the point as you can see in the examples provided.

From time to time I find myself pondering the reasons why most of the area’s banks and credit unions avoid billboards – leaving the channel almost exclusively to Golden1.  It must make senior management at Golden1 very happy.

Perhaps the main reason for this situation is that the effective use of billboards requires a year-round commitment to secure the absolute best locations.

Those banks and credit unions merely dabbling in billboard use are forced to place their messages on those boards obscured by trees, those located on lesser traveled streets, and others that only a giraffe could read.

While I’m not a participant in Wednesday’s webinar, if I was one of the speakers I’d be sure to mention the power of billboards for brand building and maintenance and their impact on new customer acquisition.