BOCA RATON, Fla. — A pair of presentations meant to discuss howcredit unions can better attract new members and become the firstcult brand in financial services ran into some negative consumercomments early on.

Neil Goldman, senior partner at Goldman Consulting and Strategy,shared what his firm had heard in a series of focus groups withconsumers who are not credit union members.

Goldman made his presentation to credit union executives attending the THINK12 conference last week, and the comments came from videos of thefocus group sessions.

“There is a credit union branch a little close to my house, butit always looks a little seedy to me,” said one focus groupparticipant from South Florida, the region from which theresearchers drew most of their participants. Other commentsincluded, “I wouldn't know where to find one in my area”; “I don'tknow where any are;” and “I don't think I can belong to one sincemy work doesn't offer it.”

Goldman called comments like these and the misunderstandings,and ignorance that underpinned them, stumbling blocks that havecropped up in the opportunity big banks provided credit unions togrow in the last two years.

“I am not going to open up the whole conversation over apotential national brand, since we all know how controversial thisis and I don't want to go there,” Goldman told the assembledexecutives. But reacting to a comment from another focus groupparticipant, Goldman asked if there might be room for nationalsignage. “Imagine if above every Chinese food restaurant in thecountry there appeared a large Chinese symbol that let consumersidentify that was a location where they could find Chinese food.Doesn't it stand to reason that more consumers would eat moreChinese food? How about for credit unions? That's what creditunions need on the road to becoming more consumer's primaryfinancial institutions. They need to make it easier for moreconsumers to identify them.”

Goldman was paired in the session with Alexis Maybank, foundingCEO of Gilt Groupe, an online retailer that is become anacknowledged cult brand. Maybank shared how the firm came to useso-called “exclusivity marketing” to excite consumers and, in turn,generate consumer data that allowed the firm to further personalizethe shopping experience and become one of the most trusted consumerfirms on the Internet.

The firm allows shoppers to buy merchandise on the site for onlytwo hours a day, a factor which contributes significantly toconsumer excitement and competition for the merchandise that thecompany makes a point of changing quickly.

“You cannot advertise your way to trust,” Maybank told theexecutives. “Consumers have to feel the trust you earn in the manydifferent ways you interact with them,” she said.