Appointment of new Chief Scout is brilliant brand move
When was the last time you saw the Scouts in the news? When was the last time scouting looked cool?
Someone in The Scout Association has a powerful understanding of brand, and of its key elements of authenticity, values and narrative. The appointment of popular, youthful, edgy, explorer and adventurer Bear Grylls as Chief Scout is a brilliantly judged piece of brand behaviour.
It’s already won the organisation more media coverage than in its whole history, and it looks set to re-establish the Scouts as a powerful ‘brand’ with real appeal to young people. The importance of the appointment is its appropriateness. Celebrity alone is not enough to make a success of this kind of role, but Grylls is a fully paid-up member of a very exclusive club of genuine adventurers. And because he’s also a little ‘dangerous’ (as you’ll know if you saw the Justin Lee Collins interview on Friday 22nd May) he will also appeal to the rebelliousness of youngsters who might otherwise see the Scouts as stuffy and old-fashioned. The full story is in the BBC Breakfast video here or at http://scouts.org.uk/news_view.php?news_id=187
The Brand Strategy Guru says: “Bear-rilliant branding by the Scouts!”
