Rebranding? It's easy. Getting it to stick is hard.

• Position: Marketing News - Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle

Once you rebrand your bank, how do you keep the change fresh over the long haul? That was the question faced a few years back by the Federal Home Loan Bank Seattle.

In 1999, Norman B. Rice, a former mayor of Seattle, was hired as the president and CEO of the bank, which had more than $36 billion in assets. Rice went to work repositioning the institution. "The bank's formula for success had worked for a long time but, with new players entering the market and members' shifting needs, there was pressure--maybe for the first time in the bank's history--to compete for business," he says.

In the past, the institution operated as a one-product bank--providing loans to members. The business was expanded to include mortgage purchases and affordable housing programs.

The bank used an outside consultant to realign the institution's mission, corporate identity and brand. The result was a dearly defined mission statement, tagline and brand platform focused on one overarching message: "If our members and their communities succeed, so will we."

The institution went a step further and developed programs designed "to inspire bank employees to embrace the new brand and bring it to life."

Some ongoing brand-building activities initiated by the bank include:

Brand rallies: Each quarter the bank hosts all-company meetings that promote successes that result from onbrand behavior and recognize accomplishments of employees.

Good as Gold Awards: The employee-designed "Good as...