Rotary International

Strengthening Rotary’s public image by highlighting its humanitarian achievements.

Rotary is a membership service organization that brings together people of action from all continents and cultures who deliver real, long-term solutions to the world’s most persistence problems. Yet surprisingly few people know about its humanitarian work. Rotary sought to leverage its international convention, taking place in Singapore in 2024, to elevate its global name recognition. APCO partnered with Rotary to provide public relations and marketing support for the event in an effort to raise awareness and understanding among local audiences of Rotary’s contributions. Our goals were to attract prospective members, instill pride among current members and encourage those members to donate their time and money to projects.

APCO developed and executed an integrated strategy to generate excitement in the lead-up to the convention. Leveraging both earned and paid media engagements, we told personal and compelling stories about the diversity of Rotary’s membership and efforts by Singapore clubs to transform communities and improve lives both locally and regionally. Our efforts resulted in coverage in a range of languages and media outlets – including news, business, lifestyle, luxury and travel – enabling Rotary to connect with a wide cross-section of the Singapore population.

Categories & Services

# Advocacy Campaigns

# Nonprofit

# Integrated Media

CHALLENGE

Rotary is a membership service organization that brings together people of action from all continents and cultures who deliver real, long-term solutions to the world’s most persistence problems. Every year, its members contribute millions of dollars and volunteer hours to promote health, peace and prosperity in communities around the globe. However, many people remain unaware of these humanitarian efforts. To address this awareness gap, Rotary sought to leverage its international convention, an annual convening of its global membership, taking place in Singapore in 2024. Our goals were to raise awareness and understanding of Rotary’s initiatives and achievements among the general public and instill pride among existing members.

SOLUTION

Rotary partnered with APCO on this effort. APCO developed an integrated PR and marketing strategy to engage new audiences in Singapore and throughout the region leading up to and during the event. Drawing on both earned and paid media, we told personal and compelling stories, highlighting the diversity of Rotary’s membership and efforts by Singapore clubs to transform communities and improve lives. We leveraged Rotary leadership, convention speakers and key members to showcase Rotary’s vision, initiatives and impact in a way that resonated with a multicultural and multilingual audience.

RESULT

Rotary’s campaign successfully raised public awareness and understanding of the organization across a variety of channels and touchpoints, including print, digital, radio and out-of-home advertising. The marketing campaign generated over 1.5 million impressions among audiences in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Through our earned media efforts, we secured substantive coverage in English, Mandarin and Tamil across news, business, lifestyle, luxury and travel media outlets, reaching an estimated audience of 11 million. As a result of our efforts, Rotary saw a 153% increase in visits to their website and a 17% increase to their membership page.