YouthWorks Rebranding Report

Over the years, Radiant has had a number of opportunities to work with Youth Specialties on their NYWC and DCLA event campaigns. You can see the fruits of those labors in our portfolio. But when NYWC 2011 rolled around, we were introduced to the YouthWorks marketing department who had inherited the responsibility for managing the NYWC marketing and advertising campaign. After that project’s successful completion, we got a call from YouthWorks, inviting us to explore what it would look like for us to come in, audit their brand, make recommendations and then execute on those strategies.

 

A year-and-a-half later and we have a lot to report !

 

 

The process began with in-person meetings at YouthWorks in Minneapolis. Myself, and our corporate President, Brian Klassen, spent a couple of days meeting with the leadership team at YouthWorks, learning about their organization and coming to an understanding of the issues they saw with their brand (internal and external). All the while, we were also bringing our outside perspective to the table, knowing that we could provide some new insights to their team that they hadn’t yet considered.

 

Out of those meetings, we then commenced an extremely valuable research program that included an online survey and follow-up calls to discuss some people’s feedback further. From all of that fact-finding and research, we were then able to provide two significant brand reports that outlined all of the strategies we recommended YouthWorks engage over the coming 3 years in order to align their brand with the 4 Pillars of effective branding that we teach at Radiant: Honesty, Quality, Consistency and Frequency.

 

Today, I have the great pleasure of expanding on a number of the major marketing and advertising pieces that have been rolled out over the past number of months.

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It all started with the logo…

 

The logo was a particularly challenging element of the project because, although we had advised that it needed to be updated, we didn’t want to lose the brand recognition tied to the previous logo. We also didn’t want to lose the idea that this is an established ministry with a lot of experience in the area of short-term mission trips. To meet all these goals, we freshened up the elements of the logo (colors, line thickness, shape, font selection).

 

What stayed the same was:

• The landscape in the background that speaks to the breadth of the community types that YouthWorks serves
• The cross at the center of the landscape
• The name
• And we kept a similar color palate

 

What changed was:

• The shape of the badge to make it a bit more round than oblong
• More detail to the landscape in order to make it easier to tell what it is
• Updated fonts
• Greater saturation of the colors of the logo to make it jump out a bit more
• Added in the date that YouthWorks started to reinforce it as a ministry with a lot of experience

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Once the logo was finalized, we provided YouthWorks with a Style Guide.

 

Just because an organization gets a new logo, doesn’t naturally mean that it will always get applied perfectly. So, working with YouthWorks, we established a style guide that outlined the appropriate use of the logo in all mediums. For instance, the guide outlines the smallest size the logo should ever be used at. It also highlights what kinds of background are good to put the logo on and which ones are bad. It specifies the exact colors of the logo so that it, and all materials developed by YouthWorks can use the exact same color and it demonstrates what are, and what aren’t good alternate applications of the logo.

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Once we had those foundational elements in place, we redesigned their one-page feature sheet, which is a great little tool that YouthWorks uses to communicate the breadth of its ministry reach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Following that, we developed the corporate stationery for the ministry and at that point, had a strong set of print materials for YouthWorks on which they can build in the years to come. That just left the digital world and along with it, the biggest project – the website.

 

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Working closely with YouthWorks, together we developed a flowchart for the new website. We wanted to simplify how information was communicated via the site. Part of that meant simply cutting down on the amount of text that was on the site, but another big part of it was restructuring the navigation and strategically highlighting the right things on the home page. After a lot of back-and-forth and considering what the key messages should be, we started into the design of the site and as of a few weeks ago, you’re able to see the fruits of those labors on the site.

 

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So what does all this change mean for YouthWorks audience? I think it means a few things:

 

First, it means that YouthWorks is deeply committed to communicating with you effectively as the times and the mediums we use to communicate change.

 

Secondly, it also means that YouthWorks is committed to being relevant. Not just with a flashy design, but with actual content and services. In my dealings with them, it continues to be reinforced that YouthWorks is full of people that have a HUGE heart for youth and providing them an environment in which to have an encounter with God. These new communication tools are a sign of the ministry’s renewed commitment to those goals in 2013, and beyond.

 

Thirdly, I also know that these brand image changes aren’t just surface changes, they are an extension of an incredible amount of work that has gone into ensuring that your experience and interactions with the ministry are better than they have ever been.

 

So at the end of the day, everything I outlined above is really all about YouthWorks’ audience. It’s all about the people they serve and the opportunities they provide.

 

And that’s where good advertising starts – with a good product and service. It’s for that reason that I know YouthWorks will succeed in the future and we’re so thankful to have been a part of this journey thus far with them.

 

Stay tuned… The future is bright!

 

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Written by Andrew VanderPloeg, Radiant’s VP of Communications

 

Radiant is an agency focused on reflecting the radiance of Christ through ideas, planning, design and technology. In its 17-year span, Radiant has risen to every occasion, achieving over 40 awards from a multitude of companies and organizations. Radiant was honored for two straight years as one of the “Top 10 Christian Places to Work in Canada” by The Bridgeway Foundation and the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. Visit Radiant at www.thinkradiant.com