Boys & Girls Clubs of America

New Strategy Aims to Attract and Retain Teen Members
By Adina Neufeld

Teens will have a unique identity that gives them a sense of belonging and pride.

Teenagers are a tough group to impress, and no one knows that better than Boys & Girls Club staff. Teenagers yearn to find their independence and express their individuality. Add the idle time many teens confront in the afternoon hours, and the potential to get into trouble is even higher. For these reasons and more, 13 to 18 year-olds often present the largest challenge in both recruiting and retaining Club members.

"Across the country, millions of teens grow up with no place to go after school," says Romero Brown, senior director of Teen Services at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Many of them have limited contact with positive peers or caring adults. And all too frequently, these young people resort to drugs, sex and violence as alternatives to boredom."

In response to this challenge, BGCA recently launched an exciting new brand strategy The Club designed to attract and retain the more than 1.2 million teens who attend Clubs nationwide. While BGCA outreach efforts have always included teens, this marks the first time that a marketing strategy will be directed solely toward them.

A New Brand is Born
Inspired and created by teens themselves, The Club is a nationwide strategy, with its own logo, signage and programs, that appeals to teens and gives them their own unique Club experience. The main goal: to let teens know they are a valued part of the Boys & Girls Club Movement.

Initial feedback on The Club has been extremely positive. The concept debuted at the 2005 National TEENSupreme_® Keystone Conference (a leadership and character building program for teens ages 13-18) held in Orlando, Fla., to rave reviews from teenage Club members. The aspect that appealed to them most was the logo. "It has style as well as creativity and is something that would make us want to join!" says Diana B., a Keystoner. "I think they put a lot of thinking into their work and it was nice," observes another Keystoner.

This banner is just one of the new branding tools.

Club professionals and volunteers were equally as enthusiastic when The Club concept was introduced to them at BGCA's 2005 National Conference in San Diego. "Based on the reaction we've received from teens, I think BGCA is right on target in addressing their need to be acknowledged at a different level within our Clubs," says Arlene Armentor-Bonner, chief professional officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Acadiana in Lafayette, La. "It's a great example of our youth development strategy in action, and a step in the right direction in helping teens feel like the Club is their own place."

Teens Love the Logo
Because image is so important during the teenage years, initial efforts for The Club were focused on developing an attractive brand that teens would find "cool." As the branding effort evolved, Club teens shared that they were often embarrassed by the terms "Boys & Girls Club" and "The Positive Place for Kids."

"Many of them expressed that they were challenged by peers who asked, 'Why do you hang out at that place for little kids?'" says BGCA's Brown. Now, with the new signage and branded merchandise, teens will have a unique identity that gives them a sense of belonging and pride. "Because of this new strategy, teens can tell their friends, 'I don't hang out at a place for little kids, I go to The Club – and you should too!'" he adds.

The logo will be placed on T-shirts, varsity jackets, bucket hats and such popular accessories as dog tags and wristbands, all items typically donned by teens. Club billboards and van wraps will show pictures of teens, sports, DJ equipment and computers reflecting The Club brand's subtitle, "What Do You Wanna Do?" All of these branding tools were designed by an advisory panel of Club teens called The Dream Team, which brainstormed about the most effective means of communicating The Club message to others. After coming up with several ideas, teens from Clubs nationwide were asked to give their input via YouthNet, BGCA's online community, and the Keystone Web site.

In addition to helping Boys & Girls Clubs retain and recruit teens, the new brand is also designed to inspire pre-teen Club members by giving them an experience to look forward to and an incentive to stay in the Club.

Adina Neufeld is editorial coordinator at BGCA.

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