This year credit unions are making big efforts to celebratetheir 100th anniversary. Some have put together events to mark theoccasion, but the hundreds of small, local events add up to zero.Zero recognition by anyone outside the credit union community.

After 100 years and with 90 million members, you'd thinklawmakers would be bowing to the pressures of the credit unionmovement. Not hardly. Credit unions are still regularly left out oflegislation pertaining to them, such as the Consumer FinancialProtection Agency provision regarding federal preemption-or thelack thereof. Further, the good actors are being caught up with theriff-raff when it comes to overdraft legislation, the CARD Act andother reform matters that have a negative impact.

Worse yet, the vast majority of potential credit union members,and even existing members, don't know what a credit union is orwhat it does. I'm not talking about emphasizing the nonprofit,financial cooperative status because financial consumers might likethose ideals, but they're going to chase the services and rates.Credit unions, collectively, need to better explain what they do,not their structure. No one cares that credit unions are nonprofitcooperatives if they don't provide the services consumers want andthe rates they want. Or if they don't even know they exist.Different facets of the credit union community have studied theissue of recognition, but nothing is being done on a national levelto fix it.

The opportunity that credit unions are missing with the 100thbirthday bash and the bank-carcass buffet they should be having isa real national presence. What is needed is a more cohesivemarketing effort among all credit unions, trades and even theagencies, now more than ever. There will be no more opportune timefor a national branding campaign. Get some fairly big namecelebrities or young, socially-conscious entrepreneurs to plugcredit unions in a national ad campaign across all media.

Some credit union folks decry the costs, while others areconcerned about their own marketing efforts. Certainly there arecosts associated with a massive national campaign, but I ask whatis the cost of anonymity for the next century? Without broaderawareness of credit unions, that might not matter in 2109. And Itruly don't see a nexus between a national branding campaign andinterference with a credit union's individual branding efforts.

The national trades really need to head up this effort as trueadvocates of the credit union movement. And it's not as if they'dhave to reinvent the wheel. A handful of states have implementedbranding programs, some even funded by mandatory contributions as acondition of membership, which is a good idea. As far as marketingmaterial, there's no need to look further than bankerspank.com. Theads are creative and professionally done. Obviously whoever createdthe site and campaign is a fan of credit unions and would likely bewilling to share. The swag's already created. The message issimple, fun, catchy and timely even years after it was created. Itcan easily be used for TV, electronic and print media, billboards,or radio. Contact should be made and funds allotted. Credit unionscannot afford not to get themselves noticed.

Murmurs in the halls of conferences in recent years haveconcluded that credit unions are not collaborating as they oncedid; the environment is too competitive. However, credit unions,large and small, will not garner the attention they need to thriveas credit unions without cooperation. The spirit still exists. I'veexperienced it recently when I visited MECU in Baltimore for abusiness development roundtable it hosted. A handful of creditunion business development executives from credit unions locatedaround the area joined together to discuss what worked or didn'twork for them during 2009 and their plans for 2010. Not only didthe group openly share how they marketed to potential SEGs, butthey also explained that they do not go after a SEG if theydiscover another credit union is already serving it withoutconsulting that credit union first. The larger credit unions evensaid that they turned away SEGs if they thought it would damage asmaller credit union already serving that group. Meanwhile, the bigboys didn't shy away from a little healthy competition betweenthemselves.

This attitude is the bedrock of credit unions and what willcarry them into the next century. A national organization of creditunion advocates just needs to figure out how to put it all togetherfor a nationwide, long-term multimedia blitz.

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