So before I moved anywhere, my brothers and I had to help my father pack up over 30 years of memories where he and my mother raised their children, worked and lived their lives together. Anyone who has done this knows this is not an easy task. It took four days of intense packing and discarding. Try telling someone what is junk and what isn't when there are so many memories floating around and you'll learn quickly how to keep your mouth shut. There were highs and lows in going through all the stuff one accumulates living in the same house for over 30 years.

But new journeys were on the horizon. My father, who is just months away from retirement, was looking forward to downsizing and being in a smaller house that is all on one level. And being able to soon have the time to do more travel and other leisurely things that have been hard to do over the years.

For my crew, we were prepared to really put down roots in a community and begin our journey as a family.

I am always thinking credit unions and branding and the last week made me wonder where all the credit unions were. In both mortgage transactions, no credit unions were involved. The best mortgages were not coming from CUs. My father's profit on the house didn't go into a CU either, it went right into a bank for the time being until it is invested more strategically.

I can't think of a credit union branch within five maybe 10 miles of my new home, and I couldn't recall any direct mail credit union pieces.

I should be getting peppered with CU marketing efforts, whether direct mail or mass media. I am going to need lots of things to get our home the way we want it. I obviously have many cars yet to buy and home equity lines to tap. I am a great target! Come get me CUs! But what I realized is I have to search out the CUs in my areas. Whereas I drive by two Bank of America branches and at least three Commerce Bank branches on my short 11-mile ride to work, I know of only two CU branches I pass and the first, because of its telephonic name, a normal person (not the editor of a credit union newspaper) would have no idea if they could join. The second, no offense to one of N.J.'s largest credit unions, is hard to even recognize it's a credit union by the sign, but I of course know it is. Also because of my day job I know there are actually a number of CUs in my area and a good number of branches, though many are in shopping centers and other less-visible locations than the corner highway locations the big banks control.

It's a clear example of how CUs need more brand continuity in their areas. It's also a great example of why this industry needs to consolidate. If the two CU branches I recognized were under the same name, it would be more of a presence for the one CU. Instead of everyone harping about the demise of small and mid-sized CUs, they need to start thinking of the survival of the overall credit union industry. Consolidation is a positive, not a negative! Larger CUs will have a better chance of building the brand continuity consumers look for.

Credit unions also need to change their names if their current name is too exclusive. Sorry to the nostalgics out there, but CUs that keep their names for history's sake are making a mistake. If the name no longer reflects the current field of membership, change it. I think of Portland Teachers CU, a name steeped in history. It finally changed its name last year to OnPoint. It takes away a problem the CU has always said it had-too many potential members thought they had to be in education to join.

Of course I am a good target for financial firms and credit unions with all the loan activity I'm likely to have in the next 20 years. But looking at the other end of the spectrum, my father, seniors (sorry dad) also must be in the crosshairs of CUs. Seniors aren't looking to gamble in the market, they'll park thousands of dollars in CU accounts that are paying a half-point better than banks!

What I'm saying is not a revelation. Credit union marketers know that young families and seniors are fertile markets for new business, but are they marketing the right products?

The new core products of CUs should be mortgages for the young and investment/retirement services for seniors. Those are today's dominoes. If you get in the door with those products, the domino effect will kick in and auto loans and others for the young and trust services and others for seniors will follow. The good news is mortgage growth is surging in credit unions, and more and more are offering a wider array of investments, but it has to continue and at a faster pace because mortgages and investment services are today's dominoes. It's going to take either great vendor partnerships or economies of scale for more credit unions to be able to offer these two key product lines. -Comments? E-mail [email protected]