Restoring relevance to a legacy membership organisation

Not-for-profit veteran support organisation RSL NSW had been shrinking for decades. It was experiencing a declining and ageing membership, and a brand perception challenge.

Membership had fallen every year since 1982, to a low just below 20,000. Looking at the demographics of the organization, oOnly 9% of members were under 55. The average age was 78. A third were older than the average Australian life expectancy, and fewer than 1,000 members were younger than 40.

Mahlab established and executed a change and transformation strategy. It focused on raising awareness of RSL NSW as well as its relevance to veterans and their families. The approach included:

• A review of the stakeholders to identify needs, pain points and triggers.
• Mapping perceptions of RSL NSW across these different stakeholder groups.
• Working with internal stakeholders and members to support the change and transformation agenda.
• Developed an external communications and marketing approach to demonstrate the importance of RSL NSW to veterans of all ages, their families and the broader community.

Mahlab launched an award-winning editorial brand, and helped RSL NSW membership grow for the first time in 40 years.  It built internal, member and external campaigns around high-profile ambassadors and younger veterans.

To build and maintain RSL NSW’s reputation as a youthful, relevant charity and community for veterans and their families, the program included:

• Relaunched RSL NSW’s traditional print magazine as a multimedia editorial brand with audience-led channels and formats
• Created clear and compelling narratives, and briefed key stakeholders and spokespeople
• Crafted a media approach to secure on-message tier-one coverage featuring younger veterans and their families
• Activated media visits and opportunities, and coordinated interviews for key spokespeople with leading print, online and broadcast outlets
• Created multimedia press kits featuring punchy radio grabs and photoshoot images
• Alongside proactive media and always-on content, played a key role in RSL NSW’s issues management