This ROTARY/One Presentation was created to provide an overview of the key promotional tools that could be used to grow awareness of and interest in Rotary.

1. Building Rotary
Brand Awareness and
ROTARY/One Membership
Conor Gee
Kate Koziol
Bryan Alaspa
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

2. How do we tell the
ROTARY/One story?
• Brand: Who are we?
• Audience: Who do we want to reach?
• Tactics: How do we reach them?
– Public Relations
– Marketing
– Social Media
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

3. Rotary International’s Brand
Strengthening Initiative
• 62% worldwide know the Rotary name,
but not much about what we do
• Launched September 2011
• Addresses the key questions of:
– Who are we?
– What do we do?
– Why should anyone care?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

4. Defining ROTARY/One’s Brand
– Who are we?
– What do we do?
– Why should anyone care?
Group Exercise – in groups of 2 to 3:
2 minutes to come up with
3 words that describe ROTARY/0ne.
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

5. Telling a Strong Story
• Good story – include some element of
conflict – Unemployment of Chicago Youth
• Climax – why we got involved and what
happened
• Resolution - # of volunteers, dollars raised
• Quotes from participant and benefactors
• Use the who, what, when, where, why
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

6. A Picture is worth….
• Compelling action shots – volunteer and
beneficiary – see the community in action
• Light, color composition, high resolution
• Early morning late afternoon – to provide
valued dimension – not flat noon light
• Use an interesting point of view
• Narrow the picture to minimize distraction
• Not large groups with tiny people
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

7. K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

8. K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

9. K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

10. A video is worth a zillion words
• Great for Search Engine Optimization
SEO
• Prepared – know the location and lighting
• Get a list of shots
• Keep subject close to camera and use
external mike if available.
• Make sure you have enough light
• Use stabilize feature if available
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

11. Defining ROTARY/One’s Brand
Group Exercise:
take two minutes to answer this:
– Why should anyone care who ROTARY/One
is or what it does?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

12. Sample ROTARY/One
Brand/ Elevator Pitch
• ROTARY/One is a group of powerful,
committed and caring business people
focused on humanitarian efforts worldwide.
• A sample of our work includes connecting
needy area students with jobs, supporting
local homeless veterans and building
housing for Haiti Hurricane victims.
• We contributed $x and x hours to this work
in 2012. K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

13. Target Audience
• Who do we want to reach?
• Where do they live? Work?
• What do they read?
• What is our competition doing?
• What do we want to say?
• How are we going to reach them?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

14. How do we Reach Them?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

15. PR, editorial
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

16. Rotary International’s
Support Materials
• Best Practice Documents
• Customizable Brochures
• Ad Campaigns
• Website Templates
• Public Image Grant
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

17. How do we Empower Members to
Reach out to NonRotarians?
• What tools could work?
– Elevator Speech
– Email Template
– Brochure
– Business Card
– Fact Sheet – ROTARY/One at a Glance
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

18. Member Referral Follow up
• References
• Referrals
– Ask people who trust you
– Ask when it is natural to ask
– Ask for an action, not a contact
– FOLLOW UP!
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

19. Outreach Tactics
• Video/ ROTARY/One YouTube
Channel
• Online and Offline Collateral
• Presentations to Nonmembers
• Social Media Outreach
• Trade Shows
• Mobile
• Email Footer
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

20. Outreach Tactics
• Email Programs
• Bloggers/Journalist Outreach
• Author Articles
• Events
• Networking/Associations
• Advertising
• Direct Mail
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

21. Outreach Tactics
• Newsletter/Blog Placements
• Outreach to Guest Speaker
Companies/Organizations
• Welcome Kit to New Chicago
Businesses
• Relationship Marketing with
NonRotarian Organizations
• Other ideas?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

22. Public Relations Best Practices
• Timeliness depends on outlet:
– TV Crew – next week and day of
– Monthly Print Publication – 3 or more months
• Interesting
• Story can be tied to bigger news trend:
Chicago Gun Violence: Peace Rally
• Consistent outreach
• Honest, Accurate and Detailed
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

23. Potential Public Relations Topics
• Woman in Service Award Programs
• Upcoming Speakers
• Service Projects
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

24. Social Media Best Practices
• Not going to reach everyone
• Provides a lineage of our work
• Need to diversify message
• Set and Follow Policy
• Need to Monitor Mentions
• Encourage members to Share Rotary
Posts
• Create interaction
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

25. Additional Social Media Tools
• Rotary Showcase
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn
• ROSNF - Rotarians on Social Networks
Fellowship
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

26. Creating a Plan for all Events
• Who is the lead communicator?
– What content/images are needed?
– What is the timeline for information flow?
• What tools will be used?
– Press Release, Facebook, Website….
• What audiences do we want to reach?
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

27. Toolkit
In Your Folder and Will be Emailed to You
• Communications Checklist
• Email Template
• ROTARY/One Factsheet
• ROTARY/One PR Presentation Resources
In Development
• Elevator Pitch
• Brand Statement
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com

28. Questions?
Conor Gee
630-993-5605
cgee@emhc.org
Kate Koziol, Bryan Alaspa
773 774 7847
kkoziol@ksqrd.com
www.LinkedIn.com/in/katekoziol
K Squared Communications®, Inc.
www.ksqrd.com