110 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Starting New Clubs

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101 and 109 - Critical information when starting a new club.

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    Starting new clubs is like starting new small businesses. While all four market segments must be taken into account, the two most important in starting new clubs are Geographic and Demographic. For example, who would even consider starting a small business to serve the wants and needs of: 

• the under 40 age demographic in a community populated by the over 55 age demographic?
• a single ethnic community while depending on customers from all ethnicities?  

      Yet too often this is exactly what many in Rotary expect, especially in North America.  Rotary's Organizing New Clubs (808en) manual is an excellent guide regarding the administrative aspects of starting a new club.  What is severely lacking, in North America and I suspect other regions, is the expertise in analyzing geographical areas to determine if any demographics are under-served.  For example, for years Rotary has encouraged it member clubs to be of mixed genders.  However, has it really examined the business owner and community leader demographics of geographic locations?  If it did, I suspect it would discover that, in North America, the majority of local small businesses and professional associations are owned and/or operated by females; that a large percentage of community leaders are female.  Yet Rotary membership continues to be dominantly male.  Why?  If anyone believes there is no difference in the Demographic (family, education, income) Psychographic (personality) and Behavioral (benefits sought, attitude, occasions) gender market segments, their heads are buried in the sand.  What would be wrong with starting clubs with the intent of satisfying the wants and needs of the under-served demographics?  After all, Rotary clubs serve members, not communities.  The members, who have adopted the ideal of service in their personal, business, and community lives, serve the communities.

    The basic fundamentals missing in helping inexperienced Rotarians start new clubs are: 

• Identifying the under-served demographics of areas presently served by Rotary clubs, and
• The demographics of geographic areas presently under-served by and could support Rotary clubs.

     Once these studies have been undertaken, then open-minded considerations should be given when pursuing how Rotary can best serve these markets.  The Secretariat should have, particularly for major market regions, services available specifically to investigate and assist in starting new clubs. To expect this important task to be accomplished by inadequately trained, time-constrained Rotarians is not only archaic but unrealistic in today's societies.

This is the final Rotatorial in the Marketing Rotary series.  Its intent was to encourage readers to think critically and seriously about Marketing Rotary and creating Rotarians.  I appreciate those of you who have shared thoughts and opinions.   

The Hopeful Rotarian

WHAT IS ROTARY?

   If you do not answer this question within thirty seconds with a response that piques the interest of the person asking, you probably have lost their attention. Don't believe it? Cast aside your adopted Rotary biases and consider these questions: 

• How long are the TV commercials, sound bites, and headlines that trigger your enterprising mind into wanting to learn more about the topic?
• Why do you think Twitter has become so popular?

   The answer to 'What is Rotary?' whether it is a question, a sign, a TV spot, a headline, a sound bite, or a newsletter has only one goal: to entice people to want to learn more.

    Every person in a Rotary leadership position should be encouraged to develop an effective ten to thirty second response to What is Rotary? because creating and embedding one would require them to get up close and personal with what Rotary really is. If Rotary leaders cannot, from their heart, deliver an effective differentiating response, be it referencing their local club or Rotary International, why are they a leader? (Click here for a PETS, GETS, or Assembly exercise that could accomplish this objective.)

    One response, incorporating a tag line suggested by Siegel+Gale, is:  "Our Rotary club is an organization of local people with enterprising minds connecting for good."   Another, paraphrasing conventional Rotary wisdom, could be: "Our Rotary club is an organization of local active or retired business, professional, and community leaders".  For Rotary International staff and leaders, each could lead off with "Rotary International is a worldwide association of over 34,000 local clubs whose members are  . . . " 

    Even in a slow drawl, each response takes less than fifteen seconds, answers the question, differentiates Rotary from the ordinary, and communicates Who Rotarians Are.  Both work for me - and on my mental attitude.  And I question whether or not we can begin doing what RIPN Germ desires, ". . . enthusiastically and effectively market who we are" if we don't know and understand who we are.        

 

What would be your response?

What Goes Around Comes Around

A Rotary club's only purpose is to advance the 

Object of Rotary.

To read Jim Henry's short essay on its importance, please click here.

Value Rotarians and use Attributes

Happy New Year.  

This time of year, many people take a bit of time to review, and sometimes reestablish, where they place their values.  

Perhaps it is time for Rotary to do the same.

To read Jim Henry's Rotatorial on how where Rotary places value has a critical affect on membership, click here.

Are Rotary Clubs Connected to their Members?

A Rotary Club should be interconnected with the gravitational pull of its STAR like our Earth is interconnected with the gravitational pull of its STAR.Is your club interconnected with its STAR?




To read why interconnection is necessary to have a strong local identity, and how a club and STAR could interconnect, please click here . . .

Is R.I. Finally Paying Attention to its Only Customers?

Rotary International Brand 
Revitalization is underway!

RI entered into contract with Siegel+Gale, who have already taken the first step up the long, complicated stairwell.
  http://www.siegelgale.com/

Great Step Forward - Rotary International!

If you are afraid to think about present and future Rotarians, do not click here! 

Or here if you are afraid to improve your club's MEMBERSHIP RETENTION HEALTH!

Rotary in North America - Part IV

For eighteen years, Rotary In North America has been mired in the captivating ruts of declining membership!  

Other Rotary regions should be wary and steer clear or they, too, will be captured by similar travails.  

Together We IN NORTH AMERICA Can GET OUT AND STAY OUT!

           

To get out, and to stay out, Rotary clubs must be on roads paved with leaders 
. . .to read the final Rotatorial of Jim Henry's Rotary in North America series . . . click here

Rotary In North America - Part II

Rotary's Image and Public Information!  

A LinkedIn discussion regarding Rotary’s image raises two vital questions:  What is Rotary’s Image?  To whom should Public Information be directed?  To read Jim Henry's Rotatorial discussing these questions, please click here. . .

Rotary in North America - Part I

Rotary – Born by Commerce, 1905.   

Is Rotary in North America capable and willing to avoid being

Buried by Commonplace 

this century?  

To read or download Jim Henry's Rotatorial, click here.

FOUR STEPS. . .

Who is Rotary?  RI Director John Smarge
If anyone can become a Rotarian, there is no reason for anyone to become a Rotarian.  Four Steps . . .

Click here to read Four Steps . . . Jim Henry's final Rotatorial as Zone 34's Rotary Coordinator

ROTANOMICS II

WHY?

R.I. Director John Smarge Nailed it! 

TWICE!

To read Jim Henry's "WHY" Rotatorial, click here.

The Only True Measure of an Effective Club is its ability to Attract and Retain Members!

Why isn’t our worldwide membership increasing? Could our Presidential Citation and Governor’s Award practices be part of the problem? To read an easy to implement solution, click here.

Take Branding to the Clubs!

What are Rotary clubs and What do Rotary clubs do?

Zone 34 RC Jim Henry tailored a Branding presentation for the District 6900 Assembly, and prepared a handout for all session attendees. The handout was prepared from the PowerPoint notes pages, and had a few written exercises. These are available for download should Rotarians want to do so.

Click here for the PowerPoint.

Click here for the handout.

Is your Rotary club really a Rotary club?

Can your club's board of directors affirm that your club is really a Rotary club and have confidence that their affirmation adheres to the Four-Way Test? To read more thoughts about this from Zone 34 Coordinator Jim Henry,click here. . .

ROTARY'S PROGRAM-PROJECT PROPHECY

Rotary's Program-Project Prophecy - This prophecy sounds like a self-fulfilling journey to the Promised Land of Membership Retention and Growth.

BUT, it will only come to pass . . . . To continue reading, please click here

Reversing A Membership Freefall

Last year RC Jim Henry published a series of eight articles on Reversing our Membership Freefall. After this year's Zone 34 Seminars, both regional and local, we believe that the thoughts and concepts discussed can shed light on steps clubs and districts should take. The easy-to-read articles could be most useful to all levels of 2011-12 Rotary leaders.

Click here to view or download the complete booklet.

What Comes First?

Before understanding the complexities of Public Relations comes defining Rotary's Distinctive Position, or Brand. Before defining Rotary's Distinctive Position comes identifying Rotary's Target Audience. These simple steps make it easy to understand that EVERYTHING a Rotary club does is Public Relations and should broadcast its Distinctive Position to its Target Audience, without which the entire Rotary organization would not exist.

Here are the links to the PowerPoint and Notes Pages of Zone 34 Rotary Coordinator Jim Henry's presentation before a large Pre-Florida PETS audience.

PowerPoint

Notes Pages

Customers, and Only Customers, Authenticate a Brand

Can Rotary Perfect Its Brand?

Throughout North America, indications are that Rotary still has credibility but has ceased perfecting its Brand. In the five years from 2005 through 2009, Zone 34, with over 34,000 Rotarians, inducted 22,467 new members and lost 23,053. This indicates that, after decades of building respect and credibility, the name Rotary still attracts its target audience – members –

but many Rotary clubs have lost the ability to ‘close the deal’ – to retain members. What about your club? (Click here to read more)

Danger of Misalignment

The Anarchy of Misaligned Core Essences, Brand Promises, and Target Audiences

Brand alignment is more than designing and synchronizing the Rotary logos, annual themes, mottos, and creeds. Brand alignment means harmonizing the organization’s core essence with its brand promise (the thoughts, feelings, and images the organization’s brand delivers to its target audience.) This alignment is vital in ALL interconnecting relationships, but especially when interconnecting with target audiences - those who fund the organization’s operations.

To read the complete article, click here: