(Milford, MA) - At their February 16 council executive board meeting, $250k was approved for a major marketing campaign to help entice new members to join Scouting in Mayflower Council. The campaign is being directed by the Council Marketing Committee and managed by Mittcom, a local marketing firm who excels at integrated campaigns unitizing social platforms. The executive board agreed to direct the funds from the council endowment fund.
“Mittcom was chosen to enact our campaign because of their superb track-record and ability to direct the entire process in-house,” said Larry Bearfield, Council VP/Marketing. “A comprehensive market survey is currently being conducted to help us better understand the attitudes and perceptions held by our target market. Once that is complete, the creative development will be crafted around our key findings. This is incredibly exciting!”
As part of the creative process, photo and video shoots are scheduled to be held at Nobscot Scout Reservation putting our Cubs and Scouts BSA in real-life field situations. Additional shoots will be held at a Pinewood Derby and at Camp Resolute and Camp Squanto.
It is expected that the campaign media plan to be deployed in June will revolve around social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Nextdoor and YouTube. The campaign will direct prospective members to a new landing page on the council website where they can identify their home zip code. They will then be provided contact information for their local Cub pack or Scouts BSA unit.
“It’s crucial that units internally prepare to quickly respond to any inquiries they will receive,” said Jason Stoller, Marketing Committee member. “The worst that can happen is for us to enact this campaign and not have units respond and follow up with prospective members. ‘Be Prepared’ are the keywords here!”
Units are encouraged to develop their own Facebook page and appoint a new member coordinator who can help ‘make the sale’ to prospective members. A special webinar will be held on April 25 to help instruct units on building their own Facebook page.
“Our council has undergone big shifts in our membership, with our greatest losses at the Cub level,” added Ian Johnson, Council President. “This marketing campaign is a highly strategic move that basically rewrites how we’ve been doing business. Mayflower Council is one of only a couple of councils nationwide who are taking this aggressive step. Our executive board is to be congratulated for taking this bold and innovative approach to how we sell Scouting in our communities.”
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