Brant United Way
Brant United Way is an excellent organization that works very hard to help the less fortunate in our community. Like many charitable organizations, they work with small marketing budgets and it can be a daunting decision to use valuable funding for anything other than helping those in need.
Creating awareness for their work is essential. People feel confident giving when they know that donations are working effectively to help those in our community who are experiencing hardship. Brant United Way makes every cent count when helping those in need. Slide Designs recognizes this and knows how to make every cent of a marketing budget count. Brant United Way made the decision to collaborate with Slide Designs.
We got to work.
Working against them was ineffective messaging and an inconsistent identity. Entering into the 2008 campaign year, this had to change. Faced with an economic downturn, Brant United Way was aware that many more people in the community would need help. Faced with economic uncertainty, they also knew that the community would be more reluctant to give.
We established the objective. Build brand awareness in the community, demonstrate the excellent work that Brant United Way does and garner support & donations.
We established the strategy. Develop a recognizable identity and a meaningful message, reflected in materials that are consistent, versatile and cost effective.
I believe in my community was developed in the Maritimes by the United Way in association with a call to action referred to as the “Anthem”. This resonated strongly with Brant United Way and Slide Designs. We decided to adopt this positioning for the revised marketing initiatives but develop our own unique identity.
We wanted to develop an identity that would work in all mediums and clearly identify Brant United Way. We identified a versatile font family that captures the tone of the organization and that has various weights and uses. After looking at the national campaign and identity, as wells as a number of local campaigns across Canada, we created a predominantly red palette coupled with black & white imagery and elements. Always with the budget in mind, black & white was chosen for the imagery which made it possible to use pictures from various sources while retaining a consistent feel. Large blocks of red and reversed white type reinforce the identity and aid with readability.The established identity was rolled out into all materials including: business cards, letterhead, posters, postcards, advertising, pledge forms, invitations, website, brochures, banners, annual reports and promotional materials.
The 2008 campaign goal of 1.4 million dollars was announced on August 27th. Two and a half months later the goal was met. And then exceeded. The excellent team at the Brant United Way made this happen and having the right tools certainly helped. Congratulations. A successful year for the Brant United Way means a good year for our community.
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