The Experience Economy concept has been kicking around since a 1998 article in the Harvard Business Review. The general idea is that economic growth – including yours – depends on the value of the experiences you provide. Goods and services are no longer enough. They're commodities, and over-reliance on them alone can and will lead to disintermediation.

That's a big, trendy word for losing members and business. Repeating "lower loan rates, higher deposit rates" like a mantra or metronome is no longer cutting it. That's letting the banks frame the debate. Credit unions need to become much better at communicating their value. And their values.

The industry needs to talk about its ownership structure, about how credit unions by their very design act in the best interests of their member-owners. We need to look for opportunities to share our values and history, and we need to walk the talk to deliver on that difference we promote, even as credit unions continue morphing from the SEG-based savings drawer to substantial financial institutions with considerable geographic and financial reach.

We're already competing successfully. Nationally, credit unions increased their loan portfolios by 10.6% as of June 30, 2015, compared to 5.4% for banks. By loan type, credit unions posted 8.2% growth in real estate, 15.4% growth in auto and 6.8% growth in credit cards in the same quarter, year over year. Banks posted 4.4%, 7.2% and 2.2% growth, respectively.

We know the data. But what about the members and strategies behind those numbers? It comes down to storytelling.

Telling the story of your brand is not telling the market a story about you. It's about your members and the value they get when engaging with your product or service. And about the values you share. The most powerful brand stories are the ones that prioritize members as the stars. Think of your credit union as a supporting character. Frame your story as their story.

Here are examples of clear, direct statements of fact that can be sliced, diced and marketed in multiple ways across all your channels, social and traditional:

• We helped (your number here) new families enjoy the benefits of homeownership.

• We've saved our members (your dollar figure here) through refinancing existing loans at lower rates.

• We helped send (your number) students to college and (your percentage here) were first-generation.

Ultimately, it's all in the experience. Credit unions deliver a unique combination of value and values, something consumers respond to when they know about it. We need to make sure they do. That reality has never been more critical than now, when so much same-game service has been available from so many competitors who don't share the credit union philosophy.

Alix Patterson is COO for Callahan & Associates. She can be reached at 202-223-3920 or [email protected].