Can we think about Rotary Clubs as having customers who “buy” our “brand”

over competing uses for their time, attention and money?

A “brand” is a combination ofImpressions, expectations and affiliations

(which have been build by designwith skill, research and resources)to influence our behavior to buy.

Every brand exists in somecompetitive space and seeks to attract customers by the

perceived value of its advantages.

A product, serviceor organization without a clear

market position and competitive advantage is a commodity

lost in a sea of competition.

The “easiest” thing to brandis a physical product because its package,

contents, price, location and promotion can be designed and executed.

beer

tires

soap

auto

cereal

water

coffee

A service can also be brandedbut the consistent delivery of the service

is more difficult to execute on a daily basis.

Hotel

Pest control

Bank

Restaurant

Hospital

Airline

Branding of non-profits is different since the appeal is primarily altruism

[indirect personal benefit]; volunteers are primarily fund raisers.

American Red Cross

The Nature Conservancy

United Way

Mormon Church

Atlanta Symphony

Savannah Music Festival

In a few non-profits volunteers are the organization with very little paid staff – so the volunteers create the brand by what they do.

The “architecture” of each organization is whatendures and provides stability – the troop,

the Rotary Club and the AA meeting.

Boy Scouts

Girl Scouts

Rotary International

Alcoholic Anonymous

Age Family Needs Rotary’s Place

Over 60 Out of the nest

Social, engagement

being a mentor

A place to stay engaged and pursue personal

interests

35-60 Raising, educating

Recognition, awareness

being responsible

A place to belong, to serve and to be

recognized

Under 35

Starting Contact, being mentored, personal

growth, learning

A place to develop contacts, learn about

community, experiment

How Rotary’s Customer/Member is Different among Segments

Elements PhasesPassionate advocacy

Cultural experience

Utilize & internalize 3. “Living it” phase

Ready to promote

Personalize

Ready to defend 2. “Believing it” phase

Acceptance

Understanding

Awareness 1. “Hearing it” phase

Contact

It takes time to grow a Rotary Brand Ambassador

GSE team leader

Club President

District Role: AG, etc

Matching Grant Mgr

Student host family

NID trip

Intl Convention

Club Service Project

Club responsibility

Attending wk meetings

Rotary Leadership Inst.

Why is branding tough for Rotary?

We are operate at all levels with volunteers

who all change jobs every year worldwide

Each club has its own personality

and largely decides on its own what to do

Many of our projects are not “at home”

and we have audacious, global goals

We seek to bring diverse people together

It takes years to build a “Rotarian”

We sell both altruism and access.

How are we going to strengthen our brandand build our membership?

Learn to think and see “branding” and how strong brands are created thru consistency

See our members as customers with expectations who vote with their feet

Help our leaders see how they create our brand and deliver its benefits by what they do

Adapt our methods to a changing lifestyles and competitive landscapes in the US

Respond more creatively to the specific needs of each segment of our membership

Encourage members to travel to see Rotary’s

impact and significance

Solicit timely, candid feedback and act on that feedback

Perhaps, however, we miss something by focusing on the limited nature of current efforts self-consciously aimed at increasing civic engagement. Several of the most significant movements that provided civic infrastructure for previous generations were not, after all, designed primarily to promote community involvement. The labor movement aimed at material improvement for workers. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union advocated prohibition and other specific measures. Progressive form movements wanted to undermine urban party machines. It maybe that significant social capital will be generated in our time more as a byproduct of social movements and reform efforts with other goals than as the direct result of crusades for civic engagement.

The future may surprise us by generating social capital in unexpected ways. It also may show that specific efforts to increase civic involvement can be too successful. Putnam asks us to consider this question: What if we were faced with campaigns that were wildly successful at enhancing social capital, but only in the form of tightly bonded, homogeneous social clusters -- the kind of social capital that bolsters divisions between "us" and "them"? If it turns out that the easiest, and therefore most likely, way to increase social capital is via movements that encapsulate their faithful within religious, ethnic, linguistic or other enclaves, then we might be ambivalent about whether we would like to see such a future after all.

By Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona.

Rather than seeking to recruit and retain members as an objective in itself,

perhaps we in Rotary should identify a more compelling and energizing objective for doing good

that will capture people’s caring and concern.

Or maybe we already have that and we need to make it more real and powerful

and to give the objective more visibility.

The framework of branding offers us the opportunity to get clear among ourselves with what is ourcompelling message that will attract others.