That different course can be seen in a political analogy.

There are relevant lessons that can be learned from the successof Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential campaign strategy.It has succeeded in selling messages for new thinking, change andcollaboration with a grass-roots voice. His campaign has affirmedthat many disenfranchised people can be mobilized. In particular, anotoriously apathetic demographic, young people, have beensuccessfully engaged. One key to this strategy is the perception ofchoice--differentiating his message from that of Senator HillaryClinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign and from the current administration,which he has convincingly characterized as the same old politicalmodel.

Similarly, CUs can apply their community message of cooperativeprinciples in a focused way that sharpens the distinction from theold authoritarian banking model. As in politics, consumers will bemore engaged if they perceive a real choice in financial models. Avivid, effective differentiation strategy will help attract morenew CU members, including the coveted 25- to 40-year-olddemographic.

Why is a new approach necessary? In today's domestic market,most CUs experience eroding membership, especially in youngerdemographics. We know of several factors for this. Thecommoditization of financial services makes it difficult forsmaller CUs to compete in offering the breadth of products and thetype of technology and delivery channels that today's consumersdemand. Community chartering has often caused market overlap. Inaddition, service has become an expectation rather than adifferentiator, and consumers want to define service rather thanhave it defined for them.

Traditional success for CUs has been commonly measured in termsof capital, return on assets, and other financial metrics. Instead,I propose that CUs focus on defining success at higher levels:return to members and return to the community. Then, financialmetrics can provide a more valid portrait of sustainablesuccess.

The 90,000-member community-chartered Oregon Community CreditUnion in Eugene, where I serve as chief operating officer, providesan example of pursuing this kind of strategy.

When I joined Oregon Community, it enjoyed a strong reputationas a rate leader, service provider and corporate citizen. Likeother credit union unions, OCCU had embraced community charter andgeographic expansion as vehicles to grow market share andprofitability.

In doing so, the organization had also made a conscious decisionto pursue three key approaches:

1) Use rate as a revenue growth strategy coupled with anaggressive indirect auto lending strategy,

2) Rely on a traditional customer service model, and

3) Expand the active service area to pursue former members andrecapture them.

OCCU discovered that these approaches were not entirely validfor its particular situation. It faced a changing, more competitiveand complicated regional market. Consumers had become veryaccustomed to convenience and habit. As with many parts of thecountry, financial services in this region had become an errand orcommodity rather than a relationship.

A disciple of the collegial CU industry tradition, OCCU'sleadership and its culture were not fiercely competitive. They hadnot identified a need to develop aggressive marketing strategiesand tactics. OCCU was not sophisticated in techniques for brandpromotion, competitive positioning, identifying high-value marketsegments, detailed demographic analysis, data mining and proactivecustomer relationship management. Its previous model and successdid not depend on these elements.

OCCU realized that many of its members enjoyed only a limitedrelationship and, as a result, most accounts were marginallyprofitable; penetration of our core market was too shallow. Inaddition, efforts to differentiate itself in a relatively crowdedmarket turned out to be expensive.

With the audacity to change their approach, OCCU chose toembrace a bold strategy of putting the "community" back in thecommunity CU image and develop a more competitive position with arevitalized brand.

Our approach evolved into what became a six-point plan:

-Embrace a sales and service culture. Make frontline employeesand the branch managers key to customer service (as well as brandevangelism and, when applicable, product promotion).

-Reconnect with business partners that had been neglected inOCCU's conversion to community charter in 2000.

-Reach out to communities through monetary investment, communityinvolvement, and individual volunteerism.

-Embrace an initiative to define a core member strategy ofcurrent and future members whose values, interests and long-termprofitability resonate with the CU's.

-Evaluate the retail strategy to include products and services,delivery channels, as well as compensation, performance managementand measurement, and related systems.

During this three-year journey to implement this plan, it becameclear that OCCU could grow its membership by presenting compellingvalue propositions instead of targeting or trying to emulate otherinstitutions (whether banks or credit unions). It became apparentthat the CU industry must rise above the acrimonious and dualisticmode of thinking: CUs battling banks.

That does not mean that business concepts such as profitability,market share, competitive research, marketing strategies, andrelated ideas should be rejected or marginalized. Many corporateand bank strategies are relevant to the CU industry. If a CU is notsustainable it cannot serve anyone.

A work in progress since 2005, the OCCU strategy has gained4,000 new members and a 21% growth in asset base, including $150million in net revenue from a new-product strategy and launch. Thework continues but the lessons learned are clear.

Even with its accomplishments as a revitalized brand based on anew paradigm, OCCU has not arrived at its ideal position. There arestill course corrections, restructuring and costs associated withshifting to the new model. It will also require improved businessintelligence, properly deployed technology, and continuedleadership with the courage to achieve sustainable success.