View From the Phlipside - Girl Scouts

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, Radio, the Movies and more.  I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View From the Phlipside.

OK a little imagination exercise today.  Imagine that you a well known, highly respected, high profile organization that has been around for almost 100 years.  The problem is that your image is old, stale and focused on one thing that’s NOT really your core identity.  It’s a business that generates over 700 million dollars a year so getting this new image campaign right is very important.  Not like there’s any pressure or anything right?

I was interested when I saw that this is exactly what’s happening with the...Girl Scouts.  You see the problem is that the Girl Scouts have gotten to the point that the only thing most people think of when they hear the name is cookies.  And Girl Scout cookies are a good thing.  That’s what generates that 700 million dollars I mentioned before.  But did you know that 80% of female CEOs were Girl Scouts once upon a time?  It was news to me.  The reality is that while our appetite for their cookies is climbing the number of girls enrolled in the scouting program is down to just 10% of all girls.  Before those numbers got any worse the Girl Scouts made their move.

They’ve revamped their logo, staying with something very familiar but updating it a bit.  They’ve added a whole new Spanish language campaign because the female Hispanic population is one that is growing in our country but familiarity with the scouting program is low.  The emphasis will move away from the nice but not relevant image of the last several decades to one focused more closely on leadership training.  Less emphasis on the campfires and badges more on real life issues like body image and self esteem for girls.  The tag line for the campaign is “What did you do today?”  Internally they’ve made changes as well, trying to stream line the organization to help take advantage of economies of scale.  And that may only be the tip of the iceberg as they tinker with a program headed into its second century.

A 700 million dollar a year business with a proven track record of turning out competent, successful female leaders.  Tell you what, I’m not going to bet against these girls.  And sign me up for some Thin Mints.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.


"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010