Approach
HDC understood early on it was important to sit down with key stakeholders — board members, executive leadership and the ambassadors — to discover program goals, objectives and further redefine the target. At a meeting hosted by Beaver Theodosakis, founder of PrAna, HDC shared insights, analysis, activation ideas and initial message strategies for a new brand vision.
Solution
Hanson Dodge Creative’s proprietary brand strategy approach delivered a full message strategy, including a position that redefined the organization as a “youth-led movement sparking the passion for the outdoors.” Other new branding elements HDC created included:
• New logo and brand icon
• Tagline
• Creative concepts
• Designed and re-skinned Ning-platform website and user interface
• Three-year vision
• Brand Champion profiles
To be true to the new position, HDC recommended the youth membership and ambassadors be included in all decisions regarding the brand. The ultimate goal was to let these leaders use the new brand platform as a launching point to steward the brand experience going forward. Case in point was the decision to crowdsource the new logo with the membership. HDC designed nine new logos and marks including a new, more refined version of the previous logo, then posted them in an online survey. The new logo — a refined and simplified “ON” mark filled by interchangeable natural elements — was far and away the most chosen. This mark along with a new logo-lock up has been designed to work for multiple media usage. Plus, HDC created the new tagline: “Be an outsider.”
Results
While the new website just launched in April 2011, the membership is already growing by leaps and bounds. And quickly the brand continues to move forward, evolving under the stewardship and vision of the youth leadership.
"We hoped for the kind of branding spark that would help our ambassadors take control of our little revolution. Hanson Dodge Creative knocked it out of the park."
— Skip Yowell, Co-Founder, JanSport
“Hanson Dodge Creative helped us create a better-defined and targeted brand, unique outreach strategies, and a new web platform for Outsiders to connect online in meaningful ways. These tools are just what we need to take the movement to the next level.”
— Stefanie Michaelson, Outdoor Nation Ambassador