I’ve been following a discussion on the Official Toastmasters International Members Group on LinkedIn titled How mandatory is the change of TM logo and color code?
A couple of days after the discussion started, a member from South Africa posted about the expense of official Toastmasters badges – the custom printed ones with official logos that members can buy from the Toastmasters.org site.
This member noted that due to current exchange rates, the official TMI-printed badge costs twice as much (for the same quality) as badges printed locally in Cape Town. She noted that TMI forbids members and clubs to get materials like that printed locally, and she speculated that the ban on locally-printed materials was to increase Toastmasters revenues.
In my opinion, this member was right – but after thinking about it, I’ve come to a further realization.
Members think of these name badges and other Toastmasters-branded material like name badges and business cards that businesses provide to their employees.
But Toastmasters is more in the souvenir business.
Seth Godin has written about the need for musicians to get out of the music business and get into the souvenir business – that is, get into the business of creating experiences for their fans, then sell the fans souvenirs that remind them of those experiences.
For example, a band goes on tour and sells concert tickets. They’re not selling music – you can usually get a better music experience by buying the MP3 for $0.99 than the concert ticket for $49.00
Rather, they’re selling an experience of going to the same place with a number of like-minded fans. And they sell souvenirs – concert t-shirts and other apparel, CDs with a special mix (only available at the concert), programs, etc.
Thinking of Toastmasters as being in the souvenir business (like a band, or like Disneyland) helps make sense of TMI’s pricing policies.
If those of us buying items from TMI’s site were employees, it would be in TMI’s interest to supply things like name badges at the lowest possible cost, and to not complain when members find lower-cost substitutes that work (i.e., look) the same.
But if TMI is in the business of creating shared experiences, and making money from selling souvenirs – well, then it makes more sense that they’d forbid members from making their own cheap knock-offs. Disney’s lawyers will come on you like a ton of bricks if they catch you counterfeiting Disney merchandise, and most touring bands try to discourage counterfeit souvenirs as well.
Of course, Toastmasters isn’t all the way in the souvenir business – the stuff they sell is very generic, and usually not tied to specific events.
I think TMI’s marketing needs to sit down with ALL of Seth Godin’s books, and think about really committing to the souvenir business.