Get the word out about credit unions. Anyone who reads thiscolumn has heard me sing this tune time and time again, and timeand time again I am amazed by the lack of a national effort.However, I am excited to see the strides states are taking to brandthemselves such as in California, Colorado and Washington to name afew.

The latest state striving to increase consumer awareness, andthat's exactly what good branding does, is Pennsylvania led by thePennsylvania Credit Union Association. It has launched an 18-month,$2.25 million statewide campaign that focuses primarily ontelevision, supported by radio and some Web advertising. Lookingdeeper at this program really provides an interesting look at howto do a branding campaign, and answers the question I always get onthis topic: How can credit unions get a national branding campaigngoing?

In Pennsylvania it was driven by credit union CEOs--theydemanded it. The association responded by finding a way tocooperatively get it done. That's just what would be necessarynationally. If there was a groundswell of support coming fromcredit union CEOs, national organizations would swing into action.Make no mistake, credit union CEOs run this industry, whetheryou're talking about CUNA and NAFCU or CUSOs. When they can cometogether to decide courses of action, those groups will act. That'sexactly what happened with the Credit Union Membership Access Act.When CUNA and NAFCU weren't joining forces, the CEOs laid down thelaw and we all know the rest of the story.

PCUA decided to require all members to pay an assessment to fundthe campaign. It wasn't optional. PCUA required 1% of assets as thefee, and for CUs below $20 million the assessment is 0.5%. Becauseit is a mandatory program, PCUA ruffled some feathers and lost 11credit union members. That's a shame, but the end result was worthit. Why would CUs leave the league for trying to increase awarenesswhen Pennsylvania has been one of the worst states in the last fiveyears in membership growth? It's been a flat growth situation. Anybranding that exposes more Pennsylvanians to credit unions is goodfor all the credit unions in the state. Those 11 will comeback.

After the CEOs demanded it and PCUA committed to the program,they did another smart thing; they brought in the marketers, thecreative minds that can get it done. The marketers gladly offeredtheir time and talent to the worthy cause, serving on a 15-membersteering committee.

PCUA then did its research, and it was an eye-opener. First, itfound out who to target--females in the 25-49 age range, whocontrol household financial decisions. The imagery in the spots isaimed at females. There is a family, birthday, wedding and otherscenes designed to appeal to women. The media buy is designed tohit 80% of the target audience four times a month. The commercialswill run on the morning news, home and garden cable channel, Oprah,Rachel Ray and other shows that will deliver the femaledemographic. It is getting the most of its money by book endingshows, taking the first 15 seconds of a show and the last 15seconds.

Research also showed that membership doesn't mean much toconsumers--ownership did not test well. The term membership testedbad because people thought it was a barrier, that they had toqualify. Nonprofit also didn't test well. What did test well waslow rates and remote accessibility.

PCUA also found something disturbing--the No. 1 barrier to morePennsylvanians joining credit unions was confusion overeligibility. This again is why I think branding is so important.It's scary, but so many people still confuse credit unions withlabor unions, think credit unions are only for certain companies,and just don't realize there is a credit union that they canjoin.

A word and concept that did test well was "belong." People likethe idea of belonging to an institution that is dedicated to them,so PCUA took that word and ran with it. The program is known asiBelong, and yes does play off the hip iPod. Visit www.ibelong.orgto see how it is trying to convey to the millions of Pennsylvanianswho aren't members that they too can "belong" to a creditunion.

On to some other nuts and bolts. PCUA hired a big time mediabuyer that works with big companies like Target and others. Thisgave PCUA clout and lets them take advantage of economies of scaledelivered by the media buyer. PCUA also hired a marketing firm aswell as a Web firm to launch the site. PCUA is hopeful that creditunions will utilize iBelong in its own efforts and make it aco-branding effort. Credit unions can take the iBelong creative andbrand it with their own logo and messaging.

The sustainability of the campaign is key. Eighteen months is agood run. Now let's sit back and watch the membership needle move.Right now there are approximately 3.3 million credit union membersin the state. With 11 million residents, Pennsylvania credit unionshave a world of opportunity in front of them as do many otherstates. Pennsylvania credit unions have decided to take action toadd members and I think they're commitment will pay off. Otherstates can't afford not to get into the act.

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