Rethinking the brand story
We helped a mission-driven education nonprofit rethink their brand strategy—and achieve true alignment on their new plan of action.
Our client was at a critical crossroad.
For 15 years, their flagship program had helped high school students find a path to post-secondary success. Its impact was significant—but hard to scale. So they decided to broaden their approach and attack the problem from multiple angles.
The brief
Their existing brand platform didn’t match the new organizational strategy, so we were tapped to update it. The aim here was to go deeper than marketing and communications. The new brand strategy would also serve as an internal north star at this critical moment of change.
Mapping the landscape
We set about mapping the territory—audience needs, the wider landscape and their evolving goals and plans. Looking to pinpoint a brand idea that was true, compelling and distinctive.
But we soon ran into a problem. Critical elements of their new strategy were not 100% clear—even among leadership. So we paused work on the brand and shifted our focus to helping leadership reach more strategic clarity and alignment.
Clarifying the organizational strategy
In a working session with the leadership team we encouraged them to make a series of crystal clear choices. And we ensured these choices were rooted in the needs of their many audiences and constituents—and the realities of the wider market. The result was a refined organizational strategy that everyone could understand and embrace.
A new brand foundation
Once that was done, we returned to brand development. And expanded the scope of that work to include new mission and vision statements.
The outcome
In the end, the new organizational strategy and the new brand strategy were launched as a unified platform. A single inspiring story to staff and external stakeholders about the organization’s bold new direction.