1. Zoom Out to the Big Picture
Like on a GPS or Google Maps
Back out to see the big picture…we will do that now
If you use a GPS you know that you can zoom out to get the big picture and zoom in to get the details.
Let’s begin by zooming out to see the big picture of Rotary – how to look at its value

2. what are our expectations?
What is a “brand” and
what are our expectations?
What is a Brand? [bring some props…Starbucks cup, Ben & Jerry’s carton, John Deere hat, Coca-Cola, etc. and then some generics – cola from Wal-Mart, plain coffee cup, etc]
A Brand is our whole set of perceptions and expectation of a product or service – examples: Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, BMW, Honda, Apple
A Brand must be carefully built and can be quickly damaged – Toyota, BP Petroleum, Bank of America, …
Some of the most valuable Brands – Coca-Cola, Marlboro, Die Hard batteries, Intensive Care hand lotion, Starbucks, Apple, Ford D-150, John Deere green?
The Brand earns loyalty and support through the perceived value received – in the mind of the customer (not in the mind of the owner of the brand)
The actual physical value is a minor part – it must be compatible and consistent – but the larger value is in the emotional attachments and benefits, Example of Starbucks or Wendy’s or Macaroni Grill, or Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Nike, IBM…
The music
The furnishings
The response of the employees
The “values” of the company
The offering of products
The customization of your order
The reliability of getting it right
What is the value of your brands – “your” college, “your” sports team, “your” car, “your” shoes, “your” beer or liquor, “your” cosmetics?
What does Brand loyalty mean to you?

3. What is the difference between a branded product and a commodity?
A Brand must have a competitive advantage , right?
Without a recognizable competitive advantage, a product, service or organization is a commodity
Think of Brands that have a clear distinction and those that have a muddled distinction – Sears, Mercury (cars), J.C. Penny’s, Dell, and Lenovo?

4. What are your favorite brands, and why?
Get participants to name a favorite brand – their car, their college, their beer, their shaving cream, their soap, their cell phone.
Ask them to explain why they use that brand. Probe for their attachment
If they drive a Ford F-150, would they drive a Toyota pickup and why not?
If they drink PBR, would they drink a Guinness and why not?
If they are a Bulldog fan, could they be a Gator fan, and why not?

5. What is distinctive about Rotary and its Foundation as it competes
for support & membership?
What is unique or distinctive about Rotary? [write this list down on the flip chart paper].
International is the second word in our name…what does that imply?
Group Study Exchange
Matching Grants
Bridging cultures: Three Cups of Tea (speaker in Montreal)
One world-wide organization we belong to
Georgia Rotary Student Program
Polio
Other elements that are distinctive or even unique?

6. and why is that important?
What makes
a brand’s advantages
believable
and why is that important?
A distinction is unimportant unless it is real and has value and its advertised benefits have credibility.
Who has a personal experience on one of these?
What made it real to you?
What value did your feel?
What emotion came from that?
What gave it credibility?
Does Wal-Mart have credibility on low price?
Does Delta have credibility for friendly skies?
Does Days Inn have credibility for family clean and values?

7. competitive advantages From Rotary Foundation real and valuable
How do we make our
competitive advantages
From Rotary Foundation
real and valuable
to our members?
How do we make the competitive advantages of Rotary’s Brand real and valuable?
Host an incoming Group Study Exchange team member
Nominate an outgoing Group Study Exchange team member
Get involved in a matching grant
Host a GRSP student or take them to dinner to learn about their world
Go to India for a National Immunization Day
Go to a Rotary International Conference

8. on your to-do list to make our distinctive advantages
What tasks could be
on your to-do list to make
our distinctive advantages
real to our members?
Then what specific to-do tasks can you implement in your club to do that? [get participants to write down and say what they will do]
Write them down now
What have you written?

9. How and why do we pay for those Rotary Foundation programs that do
make us different?
Now how do we pay for those activities that create our difference? [provide details on each funding channel as necessary]
Rotary Foundation
EREY
Paul Harris Fellow
Bequest Society
Georgia Rotary Student Program
Will Watt Fellow (GRSP)
Club sponsorship of a student

10. Distinction with credibility Our Brand’s advantages
Recap This Journey
Brand vs. commodity
Distinction with credibility
Our Brand’s advantages
Making it real to members
Funded through the Foundation
Recap this Journey
A brand sets itself apart from a commodity by its distinctive advantages in the mind of the buyer
To be competitive and be sustainable we must have a distinctive competitive advantage that is valuable and real
We have to be pro-active to activate the brand in our club or else it is not real – that is the President’s job
When it is real and has value, then developing support comes more naturally
That is why we provide our support to the Rotary Foundation – because we value these programs that set us apart!
Is this converation worthwhile?
We say a member becomes a Rotarian when…the Brand becomes real and the value become clear and has credibility?
Questions?