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RSL hires agency to reverse falling membership, ‘We’re not just a bunch of old blokes who drink beer on Anzac Day’

RSL: dwindling membership

Adelaide agency KWP! has been hired by the South Australian Returned & Services League to help the organisation reverse falling membership numbers.

KWP! takes on a brief to first research and later improve the community’s perception of the organisation.

RSL believes that the fall in membership is a result of people not being informed of its activities.

New RSL State President Brigadier Tim Hanna said: “We need to define our messages and then design a campaign which will be effective in dispelling stereotypes and informing a wide audience.”

“We can’t keep taking it for granted that the community and government will support us, and that ADF personnel will keep taking up membership, if we don’t keep ourselves relevant and communicative. We need to ensure no one thinks we’re just a bunch of old blokes who get together for a beer on Anzac Day,” he said.

KWP!’s joint managing partner John Baker said: “We’ll be talking to a broad cross-section of people, from the general public to current Australian Defence Force (ADF) staff through to leaders at the government level, to see what they do and don’t understand about the RSL.”

“Based on preliminary discussions, I expect we’ll find a number of areas where public awareness could be improved, such as around the RSL’s provision of practical support for currently active ADF personnel, or its significant lobbying activity. Once we’ve identified the biggest misperceptions, we will be looking at ways we can challenge these through media, advertising and public engagement,” he added.

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