out & equal: powerful branding concepts...
TRANSCRIPT
Agenda
• What is a Brand • Why Branding Matters • Evaluating Your Group’s Brand • Developing a Branding Strategy • Implementing a Branding Initiative: Two Case Studies
What is a Brand
A brand is the perception people form about your organization based on their experience with any one or combination of the following: • Logo and Organization Name • Websites • Brochures & promotional items • Emails & letters • Interaction with Members • Presentations • External sources of information (awards, press, etc.) • And more…
The more planning you put into your brand then the smaller the gap in how your organization is perceived and how you would like it to be perceived. Also, the more consistently you manage your brand, the stronger it will be.
Having a clear brand is particularly important to LGBTQIA-focused groups because it leads to:
• Greater engagement within membership, by reinforcing the mission
• Improved recruiting of new members and ally organizations
• Positively contributes to the brand of your larger organization
• Greater support within a corporation, which might equal more funding, more exposure, or more access to key decision makers
Why Branding Matters
Whether branding for the first time or re-branding, each company can and probably should approach this differently.
• Consider the goals and priorities of the branding initiative
• Consider the corporate culture within which you operate
• Consider your membership
We’ll give you two examples to consider.
Why Approaches Differ
Chubb ERG Rebranding Case Study The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
Christie Alderman, VP, Chubb Insurance
Evaluating Your Group’s Brand
Founded in 1882, Chubb is the 14th largest insurer in the world.
Chubb’s LGBTQQIA employee resource group, previously called GLEN, traces back to 1995.
• 100% HCR’s Corporate Equality Index since 2004
• Numerous awards from The Advocate, Diversity Inc., Garden State Equality, Empire State Pride Agenda, etc.
• Strong internal support
Evaluating Your Group’s Brand
But in 2014, we asked:
• Does our brand resonate with our target audience or does it potentially alienate them?
• Does our brand convey the key attributes we wanted to emphasize?
• Do our brochures, websites, etc. clearly convey what benefits someone could get from joining?
• Does our brand clearly reflect our organization’s current mission (examples: political advocacy, business development)?
Developing a Branding Strategy
Chubb started with the fundamentals:
• “Where are we going?”= Vision Statement
• “How do we get there?”= Mission Statement
• “What do we stand most strongly for?”= Brand Values
• “What is the single most important thing we want to convey?”
Developing a Branding Strategy
We wanted to transparently engage our members in the branding process because we felt engagement was just as important as the outcome.
Things we considered:
• Flexibility of our corporate brand framework
• The health of our membership relationships
• The ability to define who will make the ultimate decision
Implementing a Brand Strategy
Our process included:
• Board conducted member interviews to gauge interest/ need
• Board revised mission statement and announced timeline/ plan for specific employee engagement exercises, brand development, and launch.
• Members engaged in online conversation about new name, to comment on possible logos, to review drafts of new brochures. Data used to inform board decisions.
• Corporate sponsor & corporate communications involved at key decision points, reviewed all communication drafts, and given time lines.
Time line= 10 months
Implementing a Branding Strategy
All of these areas were considered as a whole.
• Does the logo visually represent the mission?
• Are the images used professional and similar in style? Do they align with the color palette used in the logo?
• Does the tone of any written material align with our brand pyramid?
• Are we creating a consistent, quality experience?
• Are we address the interest of LGBTQQIA employees, allies, prospective employees, customers (B2C), and agents/vendors (B2B)?
Colors, Typography, Logos, Imagery
• Don’t stretch or alter • Don’t change the colors • Don’t place on a background that limits ability to be seen • Don’t place in a box by itself • Don’t “lock up” with other Chubb logos without Corporate help
Challenges & Successes
Challenges we saw in the process:
• It takes some time and a lot of communication to get everyone comfortable
• Portions of the wider organization may not be supportive unless they feel like they have significant control of the outcome. Be sure to build opportunities to include them.
Challenges & Successes
But we also realized some terrific success.
• 1,736 web views and 140 comments on branding
• Daily website activity went from an average of under 50 to 214 views
• Event participation increased
Also, sets the stage nicely for pending merger.
P E O P L E
CREATE AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT THAT ENABLES ALL EMPLOYEES TO BE THEIR
BEST SELVES
• RECRUIT & RETAIN LGBTQ • MEANINGFUL PROGRAMMING • ENSURE EQUAL BENEFITS &
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
C O M M U N I T Y
MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES, WITH A FOCUS
ON LGBTQ YOUTH
• LGBTQ POLICY & ADVOCACY • POSITIVELY IMPACT LGBTQ
YOUTH THROUGH STRONGER COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
M A R K E T
DELIVER PRODUCTS & SERVICES THAT BETTER MEET THE NEEDS
OF LGBTQ PEOPLE
• INCREASE AWARENESS
AMONG LGBTQ MARKETPLACE • SUPPORT OUR BRANDS • PROMOTE SUPPLIER DIVERSITY
THROUGH USE OF LGBTQ-OWNED VENDORS
Mission: To Achieve Our Vision, We Will Partner with Our Colleagues, Focusing on
Vision: Make J&J the employer and Healthcare Company of choice for the LGBTQ community
J&J LGBTQ Employee Resource Group Mission
Situation Assessment: Case for Change
• GLOBAL name not telegraphic
• Confusing
• Not inclusive of LGBTQIA community or straight ally members
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Re-Branding Process
• Align re-branding brief with key stakeholders • Brainstorm new names with ERG membership and
design group • Name evaluation and trademark screening • Review lead candidates with key stakeholders • Select final name • Design team creates new visual identity • Create communications and visual assets • Re-branding launch Total time: 4 months
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Re-Branding Brief
Brand Equity: Name should reflect our ERG’s commitment to grow a culture of inclusion and acceptance for all individuals at J&J
Desired Messaging: Name should telegraph inclusion for ALL members of the LGBTQIA and Straight Ally community
Tone of Voice: Name should be contemporary and “positive”
Desired Consumer Reaction: • “This is a group that celebrates diversity and inclusion and I want to be associated with
that” (Employee) • “J&J is a company where all employees, including LGBTQ are valued and I want to
work there.” (External non-employee reaction) • “J&J is truly a leader/front runner in the diversity & inclusion space and I want to
benchmark that.” (Peer company or non-profit reaction)
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Inclusive
LGBT Focused
Traditional LGBT
Names
Forward Thinking
LGBT Names
ARCH Allies, Resources, Community and
Humanity
Pride+
jPride
Prism
Proud
UP! United and
Proud!
OutRight
Out = In Reach Out
Find Out
Open&Out
Open Circle
& Out Alliance
Proud Together
Trademark Searched Names
Evaluating Potential Names
Open & Out Out Right Proud Together
Pros
All Meet Design Brief
Clear call to Straight Allies and gives them a “home”. Feels like we could “own” over the long term.
Strong, “proud”, Declarative, positive
Inclusive call to Straight Allies and others (Bi, Tran) gives them a “home”.
Definitive, proud Clever: Evokes “Right side of history” argument in recent rulings.
Is positive, action oriented, collaborative
Use of “Out” signals LGBT
Use of “Out” signals LGBT Update on the word “Pride”.
Leverages double “O” graphic prominently
Leverages “O” graphic prominently
Leverages “O” graphic prominently
Clever: Nice play on “Over and Out” and mirrors J&J lock-up.
Cons Not immediately telegraphic Maybe too much LGBT and not enough Straight Ally.
Slightly dated with Pride association.
Profiling Top Name Candidates
Re-branding Launch Plan
• Teaser communications to ERG members and friends to build awareness and anticipation
• Staged official launch announcement to: 1. Office of D&I and Corporate stakeholders 2. Senior Management and Executive Sponsors 3. ERG Members and Friends 4. Other ERG’s 5. External partners and stakeholders
• Articles on internal company intranet sites • Tool kit of new logos and visual assets available for
immediate download
Challenges & Successes
Challenges • Balancing the input of key stakeholders in selecting the
final name Successes • Seeding the case for change before launch • Teaser campaign • Having all the visual assets available day one
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Questions