One of my favorite strategic exercises is to lead my client partners in discovering their Brand Persona. This foundational tool unlocks so many others within the Marketing Toolbox, leading to clarity and consistency across the organization. Oftentimes, clients are not asking for a “Brand Persona” by name. Instead, they may notice their brand voice on social media sounds “out of touch”, or perhaps a “branding refresh” is needed after a strategic acquisition, or a net new company is being stood up and “needs branding.” In each of these cases, what the brand really needs is meaning and distinction to connect with its intended audience. 

The exercise I like to use to discover the Brand’s Persona is a workshop leveraging the 12 Jungian Archetypes, coined by Carl Jung in the early 20th century. Deeply rooted in human psychology and storytelling for millenia are the 12 archetypes coined by Carl Jung in the early 20th century. These archetypes have been used time and again to help us understand the moral of the story: the outlaw, the jester, the hero, etc. After all, marketing is just another form of storytelling - it’s just people telling other people how awesome their brand/product is! 

The Brand Archetype workshop does not invent the Brand Persona, rather it helps to reveal it. The DNA of your brand lives within the organization. The Archetype represents not only your brand, but what your brand represents to your audience. What core desire does your brand meet? We can then examine opportunities to strengthen consistency, ensure distinction within your category, and leverage it to develop marketing communications. Is the brand representing itself consistently? If the audience is getting mixed messages, they are less likely to understand or trust. Is the brand blending into the competition? It may need to assert a distinctive element to stand apart. 

Identifying your brand’s Archetypal Mix lays a strong foundation for resonant Marketing Communications. Your Archetype informs your Brand Persona - which informs how you speak with customers in your Brand Voice & Tone on your website, in social media, in customer service, etc marketing materials. You can leverage this internally to recruit talent, inspire your innovation pipeline, identify potential partnerships, and so on. Knowing who you are is a powerful tool indeed.

Resource: https://iconicfox.com.au/brand-archetypes/

I founded Organized Impact with a mission to support small businesses and mission-based organizations. These are the businesses and community leaders making a real impact in our communities on a daily basis. Funding jobs and fueling local economies, supporting neighbors in need, making the real ends meet. When we say “Your mission is our motivation”, it’s not just a tagline. It’s our guiding belief that when these organizations thrive, we all do. That’s the kind of work that motivates me.

Similarly, when we as humans are able thrive, that means we are acting at our best and are able to contribute to others. Humans thrive under conditions of safety, love, and equality. Unfortunately, there is still work to be done in this arena particularly when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality. Organized Impact is a proud sponsor of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBTQ+ equality.

Learn more: hrc.org

This likely resonates with many founders and small business leaders: once V1 website is launched, it’s onto running the organization! Then one day you look at the website, and you no longer see the organization looking back at you through the screen. Content updates, conversion optimizations, and marketing automation opportunities haunt you on every page.

A year+ after their founding, our partners at Glen’s Friends were in this very spot. 

Phase 1: Site Audit. When you have an existing website and traffic, it’s critical to understand the current environment, as well as future goals, to design a refreshed site that will work for all intended users. We began by thoroughly reviewing each page, piece of content, and clickable action on the site. We reviewed traffic and conversion data, and analyzed user behavior on screen. This enabled us to identify what’s working/what’s not, gaps, and opportunity areas. We also audited websites of others in the category for benchmarking and inspiration, noticing conventions users may come to expect within this space. From there, we drafted the Site Requirements for Website 2.0. 

Phase 2: Information Architecture. We take what we learned from the Site Audit to build a new blueprint for the website including a site map, content recommendations for each page, SEO recommendations, and key actions. In this phase we identify everything that will be on the future website, how it will be navigated, and what content needs to be created. It’s important to be very clear about user experience and creative expectations during this phase to ensure the future build meets your expectations. An online whiteboard tool such as FigJam, (pictured above) enables clear communication, collaboration, and feedback during this critical phase.

Phase 3: Design & Build. This is where our partners at Creative Salt shined! Using the blueprint and content document developed in Phase 2, they built a beautifully designed website: glensfriends.org

We are so thrilled with the design, and how it enables Glen’s Friends to more effectively communicate with their audiences. 

Wishing a very happy LOVE DAY to our partners at Glen’s Friends! Glen’s Friends is on a mission to nurture a world where ALL can love and be loved. 2024 was their first full year serving that mission, and we are so grateful they trusted us to help tell their story. I am SO THRILLED to share Glen’s 2024 Impact Report - better known as The LOVE Report.

Stay tuned for more content underway, and be sure to follow along with Glen’s Friends! 

glensfriends.org/our-impact 

Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @glensfriends

#nonprofit #impactreport #lgbtqia #lovewins

This was such a big week for our friend and client partner Jenn as she launched her business dreams right into reality! Today marks the launch of And Sew On’s Brand Identity AND first sewing class for kids 9-13!

And Sew On…A Stitch Studio is on a mission to inspire creativity through the fiber arts. We partnered with And Sew On… to develop not just a logo, but a comprehensive Brand Identity package inclusive of primary and secondary logo designs, color palette, font selections. We then pulled that visual identity through the website, developed branded marketing materials, and handed off a practical and tactical toolkit with branded marketing templates.

HUGE shoutout to our collaborator Mia Hopkins for their design skills and aesthetic, absolutely nailed the brief and beyond! We’re obsessed with “Tailor Bird” and all the vibrant colors sewn into the fabric of this brand identity (all puns intended!).

Keep your eyes peeled for more to come from And Sew On… and for creators of all ages in the NW Chicago area be sure to follow and check out a class! 

Website: andsewonstudio.com

Instagram: @and_sew_on_studio 

Facebook: @andsewonstudio

#client #brandidentity #tailorbird #creativity #fiberarts #creator #handmade #sewing #embroider #crochet #smallbusiness