Creating a new brand that inspires understanding and excitement for PCANC’s mission
Client
Positive Childhood Alliance NC (PCANC)
Services
Research, rebranding, design, messaging
“I can’t thank you enough for your partnership in leading Positive Childhood Alliance NC through our rebranding! You were truly a delight in every aspect to work with. From being fun and creative to simply being an agency that truly “got us” and our work!”
- Kristie Demers-O’Brien, PCANC Director of Communications and Marketing
The Brief
The Background
A clear, consistent brand helps nonprofits, foundations and associations stand out in a crowded field. A great brand ensures an organization's purpose and impact is instantly recognizable and memorable. Effective branding connects emotionally with target audiences AND shows why they should support an organization.
The Challenge
The Positive Childhood Alliance NC (formerly Prevent Child Abuse NC) faced a major challenge. Their existing brand often led to confusion. In too many cases, their main target audiences didn’t know what they did or why they should care. They were often confused with Child Protective Services. Their current name also felt outdated. PCANC had shifted the way they talked about their work from preventing child abuse to nurturing positive childhoods, and they needed their new name, logo and brand to reflect that fresh perspective.
Our Solution
The nonprofit was ready for a new brand – and that’s where we came in!
During our partnership, we:
Started with a research deep dive to establish what was working well and where there were opportunities for positive change.
Looked at more than 20 competitor and peer organizations, helping establish PCANC’s competitive advantages, and identifying stale tropes or overused themes.
Put together key branding and messaging trends in the industry.
Completed a survey process to ensure we could incorporate key stakeholder insights and values into our branding, with a focus on staff and board members.
Developed and presented multiple naming options to capture the organization's mission and vision in a compelling way. The team agreed on a new name that reflected PCANC’s updated approach to the work – but kept the original acronym as a nod to the nonprofit’s 45-year history of advocacy.
Worked together to create a new logo and look & feel (such as colors and fonts). We delivered three full logo options and then refined PCANC’s favorite!
Wrote new core messaging, along with supporting messaging. This ensured every member of the team could easily explain PCANC’s work and impact. Every member of the staff and board were (finally) singing from the same song book.
Shared a set of brand rollout recommendations the team could easily implement. We made sure PCANC didn’t forget to update their name in even the smallest place.
Led a training to help PCANC team members and partners use the new brand effectively.
Our Results
The rebrand won the The Science of the Positive Organizational Transformation Leadership Award! This new brand – including easy-to-use messaging, a logo and full look & feel – is already attracting new partners, funders and supporters to PCANC’s critical work. The rebrand is even opening new doors with potential funders who had previously been wary of supporting the organization. Win-win-win!