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TOGETHER
Jewish Giving Today
FALL
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Seen + Heard
Across the
Federations
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How to
Campaign
Like Obama
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Strengthening
Our Mark:
Federations
Re-brand
Branding
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FEDERATIONS RE-BRAND
By MICHAEL KAMINER
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TOGETHER:Jewish Giving Today
WWW.JewishFederations.ORG
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Branding
Brands evoke emotions. From Apple Computer to Zabar’s, a company’s
logo can trigger a flood of expectations, memories, and desires.
FOR ANYONE IN FUNDRAISING, branding has
huge implications. To compete in a universe where pursestrings are tighter and attention spans shorter, a strong brand
identity is no longer a luxury for charities. In fact, a potent
look and feel can equal greater engagement, more members,
and a better bottom line.
“A brand can be like a badge worn by everyone in the
community of giving,” says branding guru Tim Girvin,
whose international clients have included Disney, Johnson
& Johnson, and dozens of foundations. “A strong brand
identity tells a story, and that story builds strong relationships.” Indeed, a 2003 report from Los Angeles nonprofit
consultancy Cause Communications revealed that “a strong
brand” was 67 percent of the reason people chose to invest
in a particular charity.
With that in mind, The Jewish Federations of North
America, then United Jewish Communities (UJC), embarked on a major rebranding initiative more than two years
ago. While market research revealed that local Federations
enjoy a familiarity rate among Jews of more than 50 percent,
new challenges meant that even a recognizable entity like
“UJC” needed to invigorate its brand.
“Quite simply, we realized we needed to raise awareness
and connect with more Jews,” said The Jewish Federations
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TOGETHER:Jewish Giving Today
of North America’s Adam Smolyar, senior vice president
of Strategic Marketing & Communications. Extensive
surveys in the U.S. and Canada also pointed to evolving
needs among Federation constituencies.“It’s becoming more
important to help an increasingly mobile Jewish population realize that local Federations are connected to a larger
system. We have to better promote our online philanthropy
efforts. And we want to reach younger donors.”
A new name and re-imagined logo now define the organization. The Jewish Federations of North America, as UJC
has been rebranded, is represented by a new circular design
that incorporates elements of a menorah and flame, along
with a warm, open text treatment that connotes solidity.
“It’s a strong, innovative mark, rooted in Jewish tradition,
signaling our centrality and stature,” Smolyar said.
The fresh identity also “helps to create a stronger
continental brand for the Federation systems,” said Dave
Watson, executive creative director of design at TAXI, the
award-winning international branding consultancy that conceived the new look and feel. “The new identity represents
and reflects a diverse group of local Federations, Network
Communities, and affinity groups and other stakeholders.
And it helps generate a relationship between the national
organization and local Federations by creating an identity
Flame symbolizes
our history
and heritage. It
visually guides
upwards
providing sense of
aspiration, hope
and optimism.
Symbolizes safety net, “umbrella” —
#1 word used to describe Federations.
Innovative, contemporary menorah anchors
our visual identity in Jewish tradition.
Classic,
yet distinguishable font.
Capitalized
geography and
different font adapt
well for Federations.
Uses 2 variations
of blue — a color
associated with
Judaism & Israel —
that is also warm
and approachable.
that can be extended and customized to every group.”
At the local level, Federations have already begun rolling
out the new brand. “The reaction to the new logo and to
the effort to create a seamless identity for Federations has
been overwhelmingly positive amongst the leadership of the
Greater Washington community,” said Susie Gelman, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
“The logo has much symbolic value, and having each
Federation use the same logo will enhance our ability to
educate Jews locally, nationally and around the world about
our common mission and purpose,” she said. “I am personally very excited to be a part of this effort to give the Federation system a fresh, contemporary look.”
Arielle Hendel, chief development officer of the Jewish
Federation of Silicon Valley, agreed. “We’re excited about the
new logo because it’s simple, clean and portable,” she said.
“We’ve also found that people are identifying their own message in the logo, which is great. The Jewish symbolism is there
with the ner tamid (eternal flame) and the menorah, but it also
represents the umbrella organization, the whole world.”
The new identity may also increase engagement among
a more migratory Jewish population, Hendel said. “The new
name will help with name recognition throughout North
America. So if you were active in your Federation, you will
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Branding
Q & A
Local Jewish Federations have embraced the need for
greater consistency and many have volunteered to
adopt the visual identity locally, including The Jewish
Federation of Greater Washington (shown here.)
The logo will also be customized for use by our 400
Network Communities.
The
J
s
on
Fe
ish derat
i
ew
OF NORTH AMERICA
MEMBER
Endorser logo
•
Clearly signals that local
Federation is part of the
continental system.
•
Establishes common touch
point across local brands.
•
Is prominently placed next to
local Federation’s brand.
•
For use across all media.
more likely become active in the Federation of your new
home’s location. Folks will not have to guess where to find
the core of the Jewish community and access to Jewish life
either in person or online.”
For a smaller number of Federations with especially
strong local brand recognition, TAXI also developed an
“endorser logo” designed to complement the existing identity — “sort of like the ‘Intel Inside’ sticker on computers,”
Smolyar said. The endorser logo, which reads “The Jewish
Federations of North America Member” and incorporates
the new logo, “will maintain the local brand while creating a
common, consistent visual touch-point,” Smolyar said.
“We signed on for the simple reason that it implies power in numbers,” said Marc Terrill, executive director of The
Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore,
which adopted the endorser logo. “It speaks of an association of communities that share common values, hopes and
dreams.” •
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TOGETHER:Jewish Giving Today
with Branding Expert
Professor Kevin Lane Keller
What are some of the lessons from the world’s strongest
brands that can be applied to the nonprofit world?
have 10 recommendations for great brand marketing:
1. Understand brand meaning and market
appropriate products in an appropriate manner.
2. Properly position the brand.
3. Provide superior delivery of desired benefits.
4. Employ a full range of complementary brand
elements and supporting marketing activities.
5. Embrace integrated marketing communications
and communicate with a consistent voice.
6. Measure consumer perceptions of value
and develop a pricing strategy accordingly.
7. Establish credibility and appropriate brand
personality and imagery.
8. Maintain innovation and relevance for the brand.
9. Strategically design and implement a brand hierarchy
and brand portfolio.
10. Implement a brand equity management system
to ensure that marketing actions properly reflect
the brand equity concept.
I
he first two characteristics on this list are especially critical:
Understand your brand meaning and properly position your
brands. Marketers must have a deep, rich understanding of what
the brand stands for in the minds of customers, but also a clear
picture of what the brand could or should stand for in the future.
A good brand positioning establishes key points-of-difference
— strong, favorable, and unique brand associations that drive
choice and overcome any perceived negatives.
T
I think the first two characteristics are critical in a nonprofit
world. There needs to be clarity of vision of what the brand
stands for and how it fits in — and stands out.
The Building Blocks of a Strong Brand:
What are emerging trends in branding?
here are always trends in the marketing of brands, reflecting
changes in the social, cultural, economic, technological
and political environments. Over the past decade, some of the
important trends and themes include:
1. Online and cell phone marketing and how these will
revolutionize consumer and producer information and
behavior.
2. The growing interest in addressing consumer emotions as
well as reason. New methodologies are being developed
to tap into unconscious thoughts of consumers that might
unlock new customer insights.
3. The growing role of word-of-mouth in influencing customer
choices, resulting from the growth of consumer-generated
media such as blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
4. The growing significance of corporate social responsibility
and sustainability in the light of global warming and the
need of companies to show a more caring attitude towards
society and social problems.
5. The increasing pressure to measure the rate of return on
marketing investments.
T
ne of the most important shifts is the growing role
consumers have in the branding process. Companies can
no longer assume consumers will passively follow along with
marketing. In many cases, consumers want to play more active
roles with brands and affect the images and positions they adopt
and how they are marketed.
O
There are a number of challenges in brand management these
days. Internal branding is a major problem for many firms and
it is important that all employees — not just the marketing
department — understand and appreciate and support the
brand.
Brand management is difficult for any organization, but
especially so for those that are decentralized: what advice
could you give to those types of organizations on how to
best manage their brands?
rand management is most successful when everyone in the
organization — not just the marketing department — has
a clear understanding of what the brand represents and how
their actions can help and hurt the brand. Marketers also must
create evaluation processes that ensure they continually and
exhaustively monitor their sources of brand equity and those of
their competitors.
B
How can individual Federations maintain their unique
brand identities while also being branded as part of a larger
continental system?
his question is not that different — in some ways at least
— from the problems faced by a successful global brand.
Brand meaning may differ for a brand in various countries. A
brand like Nike must be sure that its positioning of “authentic
athletic performance” and message of “Just Do It” is meaningful
and relevant in all their markets. Authentic athletic performance
varies from Canada, for example, where ice hockey is king, to
Chile where football (or soccer) is all that matters. Accordingly,
Nike makes sure they are in the right sports in the right way in
each country.
T
In many ways, that is the key. It is fine to have an identity that is
distinct from others in any particular market, as long as there is a
connection to the core brand values and how they are positioned.
So, each individual Federation should find the most impactful way
to express and deliver their brand message in a way that is at least
broadly consistent with the larger continental system. •
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