Case 2.6 Relationship marketing: The RSPB – a
bird in the hand
Written by Helen Mitchell, based on an original project written by Karen
Farquharson, Stephen Barlow, Aiden Cotter, Matthew Meredith, Malcolm
Stainforth and David White.
A new chief executive
As her car turned into the large walled entrance of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds (RSPB) and weaved its way along the gravel road
leading towards ‘The Lodge’, Barbara Young couldn’t help but notice the
large number of visitors enjoying the trees and birds in the early April sun-
shine. Most of them were families or pensioners who had come to spend a
day in the beautiful wooded estate that belonged to the charity.
Seeing so many people reminded her of the meeting scheduled for that
afternoon with the marketing director. They were due to discuss the
progress of the membership subscription drive and the level of member-
ship donations. The RSPB was a thriving organization but they had a long
way to go to meet planned targets for growth. Since she had joined the
Society, she was only too aware of the importance of the members for con-
tinuing the success of the last century.
In January 1991 she had been appointed as the chief executive of the
RSPB. Having previously spent 20 years in the NHS in a variety of roles,
the newly appointed CEO was looking for ‘a job that was worth doing’ and
one that she would care about passionately. She had a reputation for
directness and a capability that had earned her a high profile and respect
from the various public bodies for which she had served.
The announcement followed the retirement of Ian Prestt, an eminent
ornithologist who, in his 15 years as Director General of the charity, had
used his and the RSPB’s influence to wage a ceaseless international cam-
paign for the conservation of the environment.
Prestt had shaped what was generally acknowledged to be a profession-
ally run organization, which was well positioned to move ahead into the
1990s. Under his leadership there had been rapid growth; in 1975 there
were 275 000 members, this number had then trebled to 827 000 by 1990,
bringing an annual income of £22.4 million. As well as this healthy mem-
bership base, Young also inherited from her predecessor a successful retail-
ing operation, growing links with the financial services industry and also
many substantial investments.
However, many different issues now confronted her. At the time of the
appointment Young was quoted as saying, ‘many challenges face the
The customer market domain: Managing relationships with buyers 127