Can we think about Rotary Clubs as having

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 of Impressions, expectations and affiliations (which have been build by design with skill, research and resources) to influence our behavior to buy.

Every brand exists in some competitive space and seeks to attract customers by the perceived value of its advantages. A product, service or organization without a clear market position and competitive advantage is a commodity lost in a sea of competition.

The “easiest” thing to brand is 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 branded but 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 what endures and provides stability – the troop, the Rotary Club and the AA meeting. Boy Scouts Girl Scouts Rotary International Alcoholic Anonymous

How Rotary’s Customer/Member is Different among Segments 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

It takes time to grow a Rotary Brand Ambassador Elements Phases Passionate advocacy Matching Grant Mgr 3. “Living it” phase Ready to promote Club President 2. “Believing it” phase Acceptance Contact Rotary Leadership Inst. Club Service Project Understanding Awareness Student host family Intl Convention Personalize Ready to defend District Role: AG, etc GSE team leader Cultural experience Utilize & internalize NID trip 1. “Hearing it” phase Club responsibility Attending wk meetings

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 brand 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 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 our compelling message that will attract others.