MADISON, Wis. — The long-running industry dialogue on creationand feasibility of a credit union national brand took center stagelast month with release of a much-anticipated, 62-page white paperprepared by CUNA's Marketing and Business Development Council.

The document, entitled, “A National Brand for Credit Unions: Acompendium of opinions about a national brand for the credit unionindustry,” contained diverse and often starkly conflicting views onwhether, if, and how CUs should proceed with a more recognizableprofile.

“Our intent in producing this paper was not to advocate ordiscourage a national branding campaign but rather to educatepeople on the multitude of issues that surround the topic both thepro's and the con's,” explained Michael Weber, chairman of the CUNApanel and vice president of marketing and public relations atDupaco Community CU, Dubuque, Iowa.