BankThink

I read with interest your facilities feature articles (CUJ May 14). Good information.

For some reason in Credit Union Land we've decided to pick this moment in time to all figure out what we want to be when we grow up. I know here in the Richmond, Va. area, most, if not all, the credit unions have or are in the process of rebranding. It seems to be our magic eraser, a chance to start over, and make our old, stale brands fresh and new in the minds of our members and potential members.

It was like a Gen Y focus group on steroids everywhere you looked. High schoolers by the hundreds-one person said there were more than a thousand-a glued-together-by-acne-cream mass of iPods and cell phones and chattering girls and voice-breaking boys divided into cliques of six to eight as if they were all connected by a Slinky, snapping back anyone who strayed too far away.

I am writing to suggest that the time has come for closer dialogue between our credit union trade associations, CUNA and NAFCU, to examine the possibilities of merger in order to better protect and defend the credit union charter from attacks from the newly forming American Bankers Association. From their letter to member banks:

As if the summer of 1787 were not hot enough in Philadelphia, the men meeting there wore wool clothing, jackets, long sleeves and in some cases, wigs. Simple fans were a century away; the undreamed of air conditioning nearly two centuries. As if to make hot rooms hotter, lighting came from candles and oil lamps, so they would often convene outdoors and under trees. As was the custom if not outright necessity of the times, men wore generous amounts of colognes and powders to, if nothing else, keep the homicide rate down.

Already this year the credit union industry has seen tangible illustrations of compelling change. In response, every credit union must engage in no-fear, taboo-free strategic thinking in 2007. Anachronistic concepts like "movement unity" and "cooperative values" are impractical strategic launching pads. Despite movement purists' pleadings, consumers see no value there. The financial services marketplace has no mercy and boards that deny marketplace realities will fail dismally.

Editor's Note: This article first appeared in Digest, the magazine of the California/Nevada CU Leagues.

Editor's Note: The following comments were shared by Joshua Kurtz of Millstream Area CU following his graduation from the Credit Union Development Education (DE) program in Madison, Wis. For info: www.ncuf.coop.

I just finished reading a letter to the editor from Ms. De May of V.A. Employees FCU from the June 4th issue of Credit Union Journal.

Some of us marketers are lucky enough to have CEOs that are from Mars, but they originally came from Venus (referencing your 5-28 issue opinion that "Marketers are from Venus, CEOs are from Mars"). We have the privilege of having a CEO that loves marketing, possibly was promoted from a marketing position to CEO, or certainly was responsible for marketing in his or her past.