Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl
If you find yourself in a conversation with Sharon Vogelpohl, president of Mangan Holcomb Partners of Little Rock, there’s a good chance the topic of Rotary will come up. Then, she’ll probably tell you that Rotarians are people of action. She might even say it a few times.
That’s because Vogelpohl chaired the Rotary International Branding Initiative, leading a committee of Rotarians from around the world in developing a branding campaign strategy for the service organization that debuted at the Rotary International Convention in June. There, the committee unveiled a new public image campaign, titled “People of Action,” that will be used at both the international and local levels of Rotary.
The goal of the branding initiative was to close the gap between awareness and understanding of what Rotary does. Leading up to 2011, there had been communications initiatives in place to get Rotary on people’s radars.
“Clubs all over the world told us that they wanted resources and public awareness materials that allowed them to show exactly who they were and the value and impact Rotary members bring to the communities they call home,” said Chaunda Roseborough-Smith, director of marketing and communications for Rotary International. “With the campaign launch, we are hearing that clubs are thinking in bold terms about how they can now demonstrate how they mobilize and take action to address the issues and challenges that are important to their friends and neighbors.”
Club 99
Vogelpohl led signature projects for Rotary Club of Little Rock’s centennial anniversary in 2015. With about 375 members, Club 99 raised $2 million to fund existing projects , started a partnership with Heifer International of Little Rock, and built a monument in the River Market.
“We had a big capital fundraising campaign and we were successful in raising $2 million for an endowment,” Vogelpohl said. “That figure was designed so we would have the goal of having that corpus throw off $100,000 a year moving forward so that these core projects that we fostered over the last 100 years will be funded in perpetuity.”
Vogelpohl’s marketing strategies got Rotary International’s attention. It invited her to join a select committee of marketing and public relations experts from around the world to create a new ad campaign raising awareness about Rotary.
“Sharon embodies what it means to be a person of action — someone who sees a problem, has a vision for how that situation can be made better, then mobilizes others to work toward a solution,” Roseborough-Smith said. “She demonstrates this in her volunteer work and in her professional career. Her passion and extensive experience in both domains shine through every conversation you have with her. Asking her to serve as the Subcommittee Chair for Rotary’s new branding initiative was a reflection of the fact that she was a perfect fit for this work.”
“That experience even dwarfed the humbling of being president of Club 99 at the time of the centennial,” Vogelpohl said. “Because it is such a small group, and the idea of having the opportunity to share ideas with communications professionals that have been handpicked from all over the world, was very, very exciting.”
The campaign was intentionally templated so that clubs at the local level can easily use their picture, a message about their club and maintain a standard of consistency across the world.
“The narrative of the campaign is that Rotarians are people of action,” Vogelpohl says. “Where other people see problems, Rotarians see solutions and possibilities. They share their vision with community members and other partners and experts to exchange ideas about potential, lasting solutions.”
The group’s international initiatives include the End Polio Now campaign and an array of local projects. In Little Rock, Club 99 works with the Little Rock School District and Economics Arkansas to boost economic education. Through the partnership, the clubs provides copies of “The Lemonade War,” a book about competing lemonade stands that illustrates basic economic principles.
“When there was a need in the community, where the Little Rock School District wanted to have this book project and they needed funding and a partnership to do it, people of action make it happen,” Vogelpohl said. “People of action are also people of action in their communities. They’re on all the boards around town, they’re active in their PTA, they’re active in their churches. People of action find action. It’s just what they do.”
The campaign rolled out in July, and the People of Action branding tools are now available to Rotarians in the brand center at Rotary.org. The goal is to get branding tools into people’s hands by the end of the year, but word is already spreading quickly thanks to members like Vogelpohl.
When she gave a presentation on the People of Action campaign to district 6150 (which includes 39 clubs from Little Rock to Jonesboro), and when she gave her presentation at Rotary International in front of 40,000 people, she relayed the same call to action.
“If all you do is start any conversation about Rotary with, ‘Rotarians are people of action,’ and then tell your club’s story, we’ll be light years ahead in getting one, unified message being told all around the world,” she says. “And that’s what builds brand and understanding.”
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