ARLINGTON, Va. — With consumer concerns about their banks heightened, the timing has never been better for credit unions to shine.To that end NAFCU Services Corp. is sponsoring a national competition to develop 30- to 60-second videos for credit unions across the country to use in television and online advertising to increase brand awareness and compete more effectively in their core markets."Credit unions have always found it difficult to create brand awareness via a national campaign, given their structure," said NAFCU Services President David Frankil. "Our goal is to give credit unions high-quality ads that blend a national message about the benefits of credit unions and a common look and feel for consistency but also offer a local focus. This is an opportunity for NAFCU Services and our preferred partners to give something back to the credit union community that provides a solution for fundamental branding challenges."Teaming up with creative talent social network GeniusRocket, www.geniusrocket.com, NSC is hoping to harness the collective creative energy of credit unions and unveil a brand awareness campaign that will empower the industry as a whole.To participate, entrants post their "requests for brilliance" ads online and visitors rank the ones they like the best. Since the awareness and branding challenge is about credit unions, neither NAFCU Services Corp. nor NAFCU should be mentioned in the spots.The goal is to have viral videos focused on the benefits of joining a credit union that are a blend of a national message and a local one. While credit unions are able to garner consistent recommendations from national consumer publications as one of the best deals out there, their message is drowned out by all the advertising done by competing financial institutions. Submissions should position credit unions as a safe, sound and more rewarding alternative for any individual. In addition, the brand should emphasize the positive attributes of credit unions, and ads should not be negative with regard to competing financial institutions. While ads may be cutting-edge and humorous, they should not be risqu?. The ads should refer generically to credit unions and their benefits but should be capable of being customized for any individual credit union.The core target market is consumers currently using other financial institutions that should be considering alternatives for their primary financial institution.Winners will receive awards from NAFCU Services of $3,000, $1,500 and potentially $500. Once purchased, the videos will be made available to NAFCU members at no charge, with customization for an individual credit union available directly from the creative professional for a set fee of $150.Entries can be viewed at www.geniusrocket.com/rfb/nafcu/national-association-federal-credit-unions.NAFCU Services Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NAFCU founded in 1975. Currently, it offers 29 preferred partner programs to the credit union community.–[email protected]