How to Build a Strong Organizational Brand in Washington D.C.
Advice and Lessons Learned from DC’s Leading Policy Communicators
The Consumer Electronics Association was at a crossroads in 2015. After years of representing the latest technology in consumer goods, their membership was shifting. The organization no longer represented only electronics producers. It represented apps, services, and software producers. These products lived in the cloud or they were device agnostic, and their manufacturers’ need for representation on the Hill was rising as quickly as their products’ adoption rate. So, in November of 2015, CEA dropped “electronic” to become CTA, the Consumer Technology Association.
Their challenges and lessons aren’t unique to organizations that represent large industries. Each year, many associations and non-profits face similar questions about the influence, relevance and uniqueness of their brand.
Deciding whether to alter an established reputation can be one of the most significant challenges an organization will face.
On March 30, 2016, National Journal Communications Council Members gathered at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s headquarters to engage in a National Journal Media University panel discussion on the ways organizations can build a strong brand in DC. We were happy to include Lindsey Kozberg of Truth Initiative, Bill Thorne of NRF (National Retail Federation), Tyler Suiters of the Consumer Technology Association and David I. Leavitt of Weber Shandwick, in our panel. Here’s where the conversation led.
Refocusing the Entire Brand
How do you know when re-branding is the best strategy? For Truth Initiative, formerly the American Legacy Foundation, the arrival of a new CEO was “a natural reflection point,” according to panelist and Truth Initiative Chief Communications Officer Lindsey Kozberg. Her incoming CEO felt it was too difficult to articulate what the organization was and what they did.
“We were always best known for being the Truth campaign,” Kozberg says of the American Legacy Foundation, but the organization still spent time researching other alternatives. “There’s no harm in over-preparing for what is the most logical result,” Kozberg says. Seven months after becoming Truth Initiative, she says they are at about 90 percent recognition when it comes to members of the media using the new name.
The Consumer Technology Association also tested new names along a spectrum, starting with no name change and later moving on to long acronyms, “Things that would make you wonder what it is that we do,” Tyler Suiters, Senior Director of Communications at CTA, says. Before confirming a new brand name, the former Consumer Electronics Association also checked the availability of handles on social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Both CTA and Truth Initiative then took the time to invest in internally normalizing the re-brand. Months before the official announcement, each team organized internal Q&A sessions to prepare themselves for the questions that media and members would ask. This helped all parties to feel like they played an important role in representing the new brand.
CTA, fortunately, could use their largest event, the Consumer Electronics Show, to publicize their rebrand. Truth Initiative got creative and created cookies with their new logo, which they delivered to key groups.
Suiters recommends tailoring the announcement to each key audience. He grabbed private moments to explain the change to their largest stakeholders while the general public found out during a small CES-like event in New York. Kozberg adds:
It’s important not to forget online sources when your organization makes its rebranding transition. Be sure that Wikipedia is updated and that all staff members have changed their employer on LinkedIn.
Finally, be prepared for a lot of work. At some junctures, all panelists’ organizations outsourced parts of their re-branding process, however, our speakers recommend looking at the experts within your organization beforehand. Truth Initiative used an external graphics firm but used internal resources for developing their “verbal identity.”
Keeping the Brand but Refocusing Brand Offshoots
At many organizations, the problem isn’t managing a core brand; it’s governing the brand’s offshoots. While these groups extend the reach of an organization, they often operate in their own silos, failing to integrate with the larger message of the organization.
Lindsey Kozberg managed this type of problem at a previous organization before joining Truth Initiative. Rather than eliminate the poorly branded affiliate groups, she says the organization, “eliminated room for alternative logos and made room for alternative branding.” The group’s core logo was modified to include space for affiliate personalizations. To reinforce internal alignment, each affiliate group was guided by a communications team member, and any new projects were required to meet branding approval before the finance team would allocate funds.
According to panelist Bill Thorne, SVP of Communication and Public Affairs at NRF:
“The visual is as important as what you say because that is what people will remember.”
He recommends creating a style guide and possibly delegating someone on your team to be a style guide “sheriff” who will ensure that any public-facing materials fulfill guidelines before being released.
Redesigning Elements to Improve Services for Key Stakeholders
The organization’s digital presence is also a key part of changing brand perceptions. David I. Leavitt, SVP of Digital at Weber Shandwick, says any evaluation of the organization’s digital products should avoid relying on opinions and should instead focus on objective qualities. For example, he says the ideal approach should be, “Going into this exercise, these are the ten boxes we need to check off.” Those boxes could be focused on utility, engagement or accessibility, but each criteria should favor quantitative measurements. This approach will focus the organization’s objectives and limit internal disputes.
At Truth Initiative, Lindsey Kozberg says the key criteria was:
“How do I take my strongest piece of equity and bring everyone into it?”
Their website’s convoluted “filing cabinet” of pages was useful for researchers, but it was impossible to maintain and navigate. Their rebranding goal was to welcome new stakeholders to their site without alienating their membership.
“When you’re taking those assets away…you need to be willing to say that it’s up to me and my team to deliver to you — with your feedback — the changes you need,” she says. Her team invited existing users into the conversation before making the final changes. After the redesign, they hosted “desk-side” sessions with previous core users to educate them on the new site.
Thorne says his experience in redesigning National Retail Federation’s assets was similar. He recalls his first visit to the website as a surprise: “When I got there, I was more confused than I was originally about the mission of National Retail Federation.” The website seemed to be failing the organization’s members, rather than leading them.
Thorne and his team decided to refocus the campaign on the shared traits of each member organization, from Wal-Mart to the local ice cream shop: each group had started small, were important to their communities and supported the nation’s economy. From those themes, the National Retail Federation launched “Retail Across America,” a national storytelling campaign that lived online and embraced many of the social media trends retailers were adopting.
Repositioning to Become a Thought Leader
“In DC, where we sell ideas, we have to look at metrics differently,” Leavitt says.
Leavitt cited research by Facebook which found that engagement doesn’t predict persuasion, only interest. If you want to be a thought leader he recommends tracking how often your posts are reaching key influencers. Identify those groups and their needs. Then define the metrics for tracking your organization’s reputation and clout within those realms.
Of course, social media is only one metric. Kozberg says Truth Initiative has an annual survey process for testing recognition of their brand. “We also celebrate the anecdotal,” she says, “the ‘Oh, you helped this…’ or ‘I know this because…’” She recommends having a system to track these comments.
Suiters at CTA agrees and adds that it’s best to talk to as many people directly as you can. “You get surprisingly candid answers [about your organization],” he says. When CTA sought anecdotes about their web content, they found that their core audience actually preferred emailing their organization directly for information. Suiters says that finding shaped how the organization perceived its credibility.
More recently, CTA has adopted using Medium to release industry news and build influence.
Tyler Suiters cites the quick response that Amazon’s SVP of Corporate Affairs, Jay Carney, was able to release when the New York Times reported on Amazon’s reputedly harsh workplace practices. Thorne says NRF has also recently adopted Medium and has so far seen high engagement:
Despite this, Leavitt of Weber Shandwick cautions against relying too much on a singular platform for self-promotion. “Organizations want to be collaborative until it gets too collaborative,” he says. He recommends spreading your thought-leadership publications across multiple platforms both new and traditional.
Leavitt also reminded attendees that no matter what your platform or brand, you need to remember your target audience. People go online to look at cat photos or chat with their friends and family, he says, but the organization is online to educate these audiences about serious issues. Somewhere in between these two things, there’s an organizational story that appeals to key stakeholders without distracting from the brand. “That sweet spot is where we need to play,” he says.
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