World Affairs Council: Membership Initiative

The World Affairs Council presents lectures and events to engage the citizens of Northeast Florida and help them to become better participants in the global community. Brunet-García has worked with World Affairs Council on a number of projects including their branding, website and various collateral projects. Additionally, agency partner Diane Brunet-García has served on their volunteer Board of Directors since 2008. In 2009, World Affairs Council came to Brunet-García for ideas to increase their membership and attract younger members.

TARGET MARKET

• Current members of the World Affairs Council (approx. age 55-64)
• The Young Professional member segment
• Those who are not currently members of the council but are interested in the economy and world affairs

MARKETING CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES

• Increase council membership by 8% to 10% by the end of the campaign period
• Increase Young Professional memberships
• Encourage current members to renew
• Encourage members to refer others to join the Council

POSITIONING

Brunet-García created a highly targeted email and print ad campaign geared to Jacksonville professionals in their 20s to 40s. The campaign was peppered with enough youthful energy to attract a fresh batch of young professionals, taking the World Affairs Council from "stale and stodgy" to "fun and engaging" through our Share the Love messaging.

PUBLIC RELATIONS TACTICS

• Develop PR, community relations and social media programs with one-on-one outreach to key groups citywide
• Launch a community education and outreach effort
• Create and produce a comprehensive marketing program including ad campaign, monthly newsletter, email and website

RESULTS

Enrollment and Awareness

• 15% increase in memberships across all membership levels (100 new members)
  • Young Professional (Individual) Memberships increased from 13 to 43 (an increase of 231%)
  • Young Professional (Couple), a new category for the 2010 membership year, kicked off with 20 couple memberships
  • Young Professional (Corporate), also a new category for the 2010 membership year, kicked off with 46 memberships.
  • 19% Increase in Individual Memberships
  • 23% Increase in Patron level sponsors
• Email click-thru rates: 11.1%
• Email open rates: 36.46%
• Email forwarding rates: 55%