Marketing Scouting

Hi There Everyone;

Andrew asked me to bring this over from the Wiggio board...this is a copy of the post that I put up there a week and a half ago, but which got buried amongst the other topics.

YIS

Steve Bobrowicz
Thunder Bay

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Hi there everyone;

I've just joined this group...Thanks to Garth for putting me on to it...

You might recognize my name from the Leader and Scouting Life magazines...I've written all the history articles over the past couple of years. All the background reading that I've had to do for those articles has been interesting and a lot of fun, but I think that I've gained some interesting insights as to why Scouting was so big "back in the day", which might point us to some partial solutions for our membership issues today.

Keep in mind just how big Scouting was...at our peak through the fifties and early sixties, Boy Scouts of Canada had enrolled between ten and twenty percent of eligible youth in the country. And you have to keep in mind that the definition of "eligible youth" was a lot smaller then...there were no Beavers, and there were no girls involved.

So what has happened? There has been a lot of finger-pointing in the last twenty years; everybody seems to want a single reason for the decline, whether it be video games or competition from other clubs, or the uniform. But if you compare us to other western countries (USA, UK), membership is not delining in those countries; in fact, it's growing. On a per capita basis, youth membership in the States outnumbers us ten to one, and it's about four to one in the UK. They've got just the same issues of video games and uniforms in those countries. But let's face it...there are a multitude of reasons that our membership has declined. Some of them we may be able to address, some may be beyond our control.

But you know what? Things weren't a whole lot different a hundred years ago. When Scouting was new, we took a lot of ridicule from the public at large, and a lot of that ridicule might sound familiar...what silly uniforms (keep in mind that people didn't wear shorts in 1909), it's too militaristic (BP was a famous general of course), young people can't take a responsible role, etc...

So what was different then?

Baden-Powell.

B-P's brilliancy was not in creating Scouting (there were many similar organizations at the time), but in marketing it. He was always an incredibly charismatic man; and after Mafeking he became a national celebrity with many incredibly influential friends.

The popular version of our history is that B-P wrote his book and that Scouting just sort of blossomed on its own. That's nonesense. B-P started marketing Scouting in 1906, well before Brownsea Island, well before Scouting for Boys. He published a pamphlet called 'The Boy Scouts Scheme' in 1906, and lectured on the topic extensively...to educators, to church people, to politicians, and anyone else who would listen.

After Scouting for Boys was published, he continued the publicity with an world-wide lecture tour (he came to Canada and the USA in 1910), follow-up books, a prototype Jamboree in London in 1909, and recruited powerful and influential men to push Scouting as well. The most important of these was the King's brother, the Duke of Connaught, who became the President of the Boy Scouts Association, from 1909 until he died in 1942 (he was also Governor General of Canada 1911-1916, and our second Chief Scout). In Canada, B-P recruited Lord Strathcona (Google him), who provided organizational, financial, and publicity support for Scouting.

And of course there were the Chief Scouts for the Overseas Dominions. B-P didn't just ask the Governor General of Canada to be our Chief Scout...he did the same in all the British Dominions. And in the early years, the G-G was more than just an honourary figurehead for Scouting...they actively promoted the Movement and had a hand in its development. Lord Byng of Vimy (G-G 1921-26) inspected Scout Troops whenever he toured the country, and even held Woodbadge courses right in Rideau Hall!

So, what does that mean today?

Marketing...

The biggest reason that I see in our decline is that, for a long time, Scouting was so big and so well known that we didn't NEED any marketing. Everybody in Canada knew what Scouting was about. However, we're now at a point where we have two generations, both the kids and their parents, who know very little of what Scouting is about.

We need recognizable faces, famous people, influential names, to trumpet Scouting for us in the same way that the Duke of Connaught did a hundred years ago. We need to go back to B-P's drawing board and pitch Scouting not only to kids, but to their parents, to educators, churches and politicians. But also important, we need to tailor the pitch to the audience.

B-P once said "So with boys, if you try to preach to them what you consider elevating matter, you won't catch them. Any obvious 'goody-goody' will scare away the more spirited among them, and those are the ones you want to get hold of." I think this holds as true today as in 1908. I love the "Creating a Better World" campaign, and think it's a wonderful marketing theme to put to parents and educators, but I don't think it's the right pitch to attract the youth who want to go camping, hiking, and canoeing. THOSE are the activities that we're trying to sell, THOSE are the things that are going to attract new youth to the Movement. We'll worry about having them change the world after they sign up.

I think that's enough for my first posting. Have a great weekend.

So last weekend I drove down to Duluth with the family, and I saw a couple of things that got me thinking...Scouts Canada needs to re-think the entire concept of corporate partnerships.

On a national level, our corporate partnerships in the past have typically either been invisible...coporations making donations directly to Scouts Canada with little or no fanfare, or they have been arrangements along the lines of the partnership with Sears this spring or Bargain Shop a couple years ago...counter-top donation boxes and maybe a local PR event.

So on the drive down to Duluth, we went past a Dairy Queen, with a big sign outside inviting customers to "TRY OUR NEW GIRL SCOUT COOKIE BLIZZARD!" Cool. Everybody knows about Girl Scout Cookies, but they might not think about them in mid-summer. Dairy Queen wasn't collecting donations for GIrl Scouts USA, but they were blasting the name "GIRL SCOUTS" all over their number one selling item, the Blizzard treat.

And then when we were in Duluth, we took our girls to the Great Lakes Aquarium (top notch attraction, if you're ever in the area). On the ticket counter is a display, with handouts advertising the special workshops that the Aquarium is offering for Brownies and Girl Scouts; for each age group, the Aquarium is offering four different sessions, each tailored to a different badge from the Brownie and Girl Scout Program. For $8 per girl, Brownie and Girl Scout groups get admission to the Aquarium, a half-day hands-on workshop with Aquarium scientists and staff, and earn one of their badges to boot. But aside from offering a really cool opportunity for the Girl Scouts themselves, look at the free advertising opportunity...every single person who comes into the Aquarium sees these pamphlets; how many parents (like me) picked one up while waiting for tickets, read over the information, and thought..."Wow. If this is the kind of thing that Girl Scouts are into, I might want to look at getting my girls involved." Again, the Aquarium isn't collecting any money for the Girl Scouts USA, but the partnership is worth much more than any donations that might get thrown in a bucket.

There's information on their website about their Scouting workshops, but the website pales against the high quality handout they have next to the ticket booth. http://www.glaquarium.org/education/scouts.php

In one weekend, I was hit by two great advertising partnerships from Girl Scouts USA. I've honestly never given that organization much thought before, but I'll tell you what; if I was an American resident, I'd be out looking for more information for my own girls right now.

Why aren't we doing anything like this?!

I too have see the ads for Girl Guide cookies in a DQ blizzard. What a fabulous idea and if I lived in the States, I would register my daughter for girl guides.
It would be wonderful if Scouts Canada could do something of this sort to increase our numbers. My group has tried (or at least myself and the commissioner) to perk up our enrollment for the fall without much success so far. We attended Canada Day festivities with free Kub Kar races (with prizes for anyone who raced), we had a bring a friend bike rodeo night plus we have done other smaller things. It's difficult to get the word out there about what a wonderful group we are if nobody is listening. Even some of our leaders do not promote our group. We need a national campaign or some celebrity plugs. Scouting is a great organization and I am proud to be a leader - I just wish more of Canada knew about it.

I was watching some CFL at the weekend and it occured to me that a "Scouts Canada" advertisement on the side of the field would reach a large number of our "target market". Has anyone from Scouts Canada tried talking to the CFL or other sports leagues to see if they would be willing to donate some advertising space? I know someone who has negotiated the same thing for a charity organisation with another sports league so it IS possible.

I know the local football, baseball and soccer teams here (Lions, Canadians & Whitecaps) all have their eyes on our members as part of their martketing campaigns and arrange "Scout nights" and other scouting events. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get advertising space from them at their facilities in the spirit of this cooperation.

Hey Swampo

I'm the dentist with the resurging Hamilton TigerCats. One of our players #67, Peter Dyakowski has as part of his salary, 24 tickets per game as a gift to Hamilton Scouting. I wanted to say thank you to Peterfor his "Pete's Posse" gift with one of those boards on the sides that the players trip over when they go out-of-bounds.... $7,500 for 10 games.. yes $7thousand 5hundred dollars. but I'm waiting to hear the special Scout price.

We might be able to get a local business to sponsor the board.

Oh, WAIT, I have such a business........
. . (logo) Scouts Canada (logo)
. . Thanks PETER DYAKOWSKI #67
. . for his Generosity of "PETE'S POSSE"
. . (sponsored by EAST HAMILTON DENTAL CARE

. ,All on a 4x14 foot billboard

Depending on the price, that could be say $375 per game, or for the same $$'s we could sponsor almost 3 kids for a year of Scouting.

Tough call sometimes!!! May or may not develop.

Hans

Hi Hans,

What I was hoping was that someone high up at Scouts Canada could negotiate a deal with someone high up in the CFL (or NHL or USSL etc) to get the CFL to donate the space to us.
I know someone who has done this with UK Premiership Soccer (for a different charity) so it's not out of the bounds of possibility.

Visibility is essential if we are going to grow Scouting but a panel at a football game may not attract much attention. In Calgary, we've talked to the Stampeders. They are happy to have a Scout night and get us to fill the end zone seats for them but they aren't interested in advertising us unless we pay the going price - and it's more expense than at a Hamilton Tigercats game.

Some councils and groups across Canada are advertising on Facebook and getting encouraging results because that's where today's parents are. Someone told me that Nanaimo attracted 100 new members using Facebook.

Someone noted that Scouting in the USA hasn't declined as much as we have. Their growth is really strongest in the western states. They've been looking at why traditional participation in Cubs and Scouts has been struggling in central and eastern states. Some of it has to do with restrictions on access to public facilities because BSA has policies restriciting membership. They have 10 times our membership because they have 10 times the population.

Talking to friends in the USA, they tell me it's more about getting groups visible - doing good turns more often and having more exciting activities in the community where people can see us. Food bank drives are a good start. So is Scoutrees if we could plant in local parks. The Kub Kar Rally in a public place is good too. We probably got more publicity from a national Scout jamboree in Thunder Bay than any other Scout activity there for 10 years before or after.

Someone talked about how BP spoke to varous organizations and that's something we have stopped doing. Chief Commissioner Steve Kent spoke at my Rotary club in June and got a great response. We need more people like Steve ready to stand up and speak. That's why the task force plan includes more youth speakers so we have the horse power to do it. We need to be careful who speaks. We need more young people (like Steve) and fewer Baby-Boomers (like me) who can attract younger people.

In southern Alberta, we've had booths at teachers conventions for almost 10 years and it's helped open some doors. We also participate in other events with community organizations to network with potential sponsors. We'll have a service corps at Global Fest (it's a big cultural event) and we invested in a parade float that has gone to about 15 events this summer.

Last year, Wayne Perry from the World Committee was at our national meetings. He said the #1 reason kids don't join is because no one asks them. In the USA, 85% of people haven't been asked to join. That means one person asking another - not a newspaper or TV advertisement. In fact, the world committee researchs says that TV advertising is the least successful recruiting tool because we can't afford to buy enough space. As Wayne said, imagine what would happen if every one of our members asked one person to join and 25% of them did.

They have 10 times our membership because they have 10 times the population.

They have almost 4 million members in their traditional programs, about 40 times SC.

As Wayne said, imagine what would happen if every one of our members asked one person to join and 25% of them did.

Lots are joining; it's getting them to stay that is our challenge.

Even if you correct for the difference in total population numbers, BSA would still have half a million youth members compared to our 75,000.

I've attached an excel graph that I used in a presentation I gave to the Lakehead University outdoor rec program, showing 2007 youth membership, corrected to total population of Canada; in other words, assuming that all of the countries in the chart had the same number of people as Canada (33 million), this is how many youth members they would have in Scouting.

I've included US, UK and Australia, since they seem to be closest to Canada demographically, and also grabbed a few other countries randomly, just for comparison (New Zealand, Phillipines, Indonesia and Finland). This obviously dosen't stand up to any scientific rigour, but it's useful to illustrating general trends.

Steve B.

All very interesting. But one thing must be understood is that the youth may want to join, but it is up to the parent to register and support the youth (ie. drive them to the meeting, pay for registration, etc.). So kids asking kids or marketing geared to the kids will not be effective. Not only does the youth want to join, but the parents must want them to join. So why would a parent want their youth to join? One day events? Well, these are good for one day, but what about the rest of the year? You would need to advertize something that is not mainstream, but a core value. As an example, scouting offers the kids a chance to put down that joy stick or keyboard and get outdoors. Not just get outdoors, but stop something like continual computer gaming. I saw a powerful ad about a kid who had to chose between a gang and soccer.

Right now, the biggest Scouting advertisement is the popcorn sales kick-off stuff. Great advertising - join Scouts to fundraise. What parent would be happy about having to do more fundraising??

Right now, the biggest Scouting advertisement is the popcorn sales kick-off stuff. Great advertising - join Scouts to fundraise. What parent would be happy about having to do more fundraising??

Interestingly, at our last group committee meeting we discussed again the popcorn fundraiser, and are maintaining our policy where we don't send the kids home to sell products. If a section wants to do it they can only do it as a regular section activity. The parents have told us they do not want the kids coming home with the expectation that they sell stuff. It puts pressure on the parents to buy stuff they don't want and some parents don't want their kids going door to door by themselves (and don't want to spend the time going with their kids).


Allan.

I don't want to get started on Scout popcorn, which I absolutely HATE for a variety of reasons, but I do want to point out that Girl Guide cookies get significant promotion and that fundraiser is far more tied into Guiding's image (and doesn't seem to hurt it) than popcorn is with Scouting's image.

By the way if someone wants to start a thread on popcorn , I would love to unload some pent up frustration.

Here you go Scouter_Ken. In General Discussions Forum.

http://talkscouts.ca/forum/topic139.html

Thanks Errol, I just posted and I feel better already.

If anyone is interested in seeing how Scouting SHOULD be marketed, check out the video on this link:

http://www.scouting.org/Youth.aspx

Note in particular that the video was made by a youth member.

Steve