Although many nonprofits don’t have the corporate budgets dedicated to creating brand awareness and updating their brand, it is just as important for them to communicate their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) consistently and effectively as it is for for-profit organizations.
Enter Tough Warrior Princesses (TWP), an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to providing support, comfort, love and resources to women affected by cancer. For years, they operated with donated space on the third floor of a local hardware store, where members of the Board and community volunteers would assemble comfort baskets for cancer patients. They often held their Board meetings in the conference rooms of local businesses. Variations of their beloved stick-figure princess logo could be found on the website, notecards and t-shirts – but there was not a consistent look to their graphics.
TWP enlisted the pro bono support of Jackson Jackson & Wagner (JJ&W), a behavioral public relations firm that specializes in Behavioral Research and Organization Development, (www.jjwpr.com) along with designer Rose Lowry of Beechleaf Creative (Beechleaf Creative Case Studies) to:
- Upgrade their logo
- Develop a tagline to emphasize their USP
At the same time, they secured a small storefront in downtown Amesbury, MA that can be used for everything from their “Warrior Chats”, a monthly gathering of survivors, to Board meetings, to the assembly of their signature comfort baskets.
The Naming Process
Members of the Board of Directors held several brainstorming sessions before they arrived at their new tagline: “Empowering Women. Defying Cancer.” JJ&W’s Naming Process includes the following steps:
- Define The Essence. Values, beliefs, activities which make the organization different and special.
- Brainstorm The Qualities. A name must successfully represent the organization’s unique qualities – how would people describe TWP in conversation? Which qualities stand out?
- Review The Psychographics Of The Potential Customers. This includes a look at their values, attitudes and lifestyle. Does the new name speak to them?
- Identify perceptions and expectations the name/tagline should create. What do you want to be known for? What would clients/customers expect from contacting and interacting with you?
TWP began by conducting research with key opinion leaders to discover:
- Familiarity with TWP – What do they know about the organization? What questions do they have? Have they ever donated? Attended a fundraising event? Requested a basket for a cancer patient?
- Sources of Information – Where did they first hear about TWP? Do they read the newsletter or visit the website?
- Recommendations For Improving Communication: What are their ideas for improving communication and building brand awareness? What other groups/organizations should TWP be working with or talking to?
Next came the design of the new logo. Requirements included:
- Ease of use: The designer needed to think about a logo that was easy to use with a tagline and could be transferable to written and online communication.
- Preserve some of the “princess identity”. While the new logo does not look like the old one, elements of the former logo, like the ribbon, were incorporated.
(Note: In addition to one-on-one discussions with opinion leaders, TWP spokespersons did a presentation at a local Rotary Club meeting to unveil the new design options and taglines and get feedback).
Finally, the hardest part – reaching consensus on the new name and tagline. Steps included:
- Several meetings with a facilitator to talk through the elements of the new tagline and arrive at a list of finalists. JJ&W developed a spreadsheet so people could vote for their favorites and assist with narrowing down the possibilities.
- An online Zoom meeting with the designer to review the new logo options, with real-time feedback on what would work and what would not . This led to producing a second round of options and eventually settling on both the new tagline and the new logo.
“It was emotional for some of us to let go of the original princess, even though we knew it made sense to use one consistent brand,” says President Patty Mellon. “Now that we have lived with it, we love it! Change is hard, but sometimes necessary.”
For more information about the Tough Warrior Princess, visit: www.toughwarriorprincess.com.