Girl Scouts rebranding to reach more girls

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Girl Scouts of the USA announced Tuesday it is giving its brand a makeover to excite a new generation of girls.

The nearly century-old, girls-only group, whose motto is "Do a good turn daily," will market itself with the tagline "What did you do today?"

Girl Scouts Chief Executive officer Kathy Cloninger touted the need for the organization to revitalize and re-energize its branding to reach beyond the one in 10 girls who now give Scouting a try.

"We have literally revamped our entire organization to appeal to that 90 percent of girls who aren't benefiting from the Girl Scout leadership experience," she said. "And with our new brand work, we think we have the right message at the right time."

The marketing strategy, six years in the making, includes a new logo with donated advertising in both traditional and online media venues.

The Girl Scouts also are going after the Latino community with Spanish-language advertising.

Laurel Richie, the group's chief marketing officer and senior vice president, said the new message is the Girl Scouts are "relevant to girls and the lives they lead today."

"To some degree, our brand had faded and our research revealed that while many girls and parents knew about us, they had a very limited view of us," Richie said.

"While we are proud of our $700 million cookie business run by girls, we offer so much more than that, and this new work is designed to let people know about all the new and exciting things girls do every day as Girl Scouts."

The Girl Scouts now have 112 councils, down from 312, in response to a gradual slide in membership. The group, founded in 1912, claims 3.3 million girl and adult members worldwide.