• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 3, 2010

Hoping to engage a new generation of young women, Girl Scouts of the USA on Tuesday unveiled a new multichannel national marketing campaign. Anchored by the tagline "What Did You Do Today?" the campaign was designed to inspire girls and adult volunteers to participate in Girl Scouting.

Laurel Richie, chief marketing officer and SVP at GSUSA, is the first to admit that the organization could use some revitalizing.

"To some degree, our brand had faded and our research revealed that while many girls and parents knew about us, they had a very limited view of us," said Richie. While we are proud of our $700 million cookie business run by girls, we offer so much more than that."

The branding -- in the works since the organization began a broad transformation back in 2004 -- consists of a new visual identity, which includes a trefoil mark, revised color palette, and logo that was originally created in the 1970s by designer Saul Bass.

In addition, the initiative also includes plans for a 360-degree marketing program that taps online, place-based and traditional media.

For the general market campaign, Girl Scouts is presently working to secure $30 million in pro bono placements from national online and in-mall and airport outlets, as well as traditional broadcast and print media.

According to Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, about one out of every 10 girls participates in Girl Scouting, today. "That's a tremendous number when you think about it," said Cloninger. "But that also means that we have a great opportunity to grow."

As part of the campaign, Girl Scouts also has developed Spanish-language advertising to target the Hispanic market -- one of the few girl populations in the country that is growing, according to GSUSA. The organization has already has secured more than $10 million in donated exposure in Spanish-language media ranging from Telemundo to People en Español.

In recent years, GSUSA has implemented major changes to its core business strategy, including the realignment of its federated system of 312 councils to 112.

Those councils now operate with bigger budgets and are able to draw on economies of scale, according to the organization.

In 2008, the organization rolled out the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, a program to better engage the entire GSUSA community.