The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Corporate Brand Identity Program 1945 Fruitville Road Sarasota, FL 34236 941-955-2508 941-366-5621 sarasotachamber.com Submitted By: Tiffany Soukhaphaly, Communications & Marketing Manager ACCE Awards for Communications Excellence Entry Campaign and Programs 5a Chamber Image Campaign
The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce ACCE 24 th Annual Awards for Communications Excellence Entry Chamber and Programs 5a - Chamber Image Campaign The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Corporate Brand Identity Program SUMMARY Greater Sarasota is often identified as one of America's most desirable areas to live, work and play, and the business community is a major contributing factor. However, doing business in Florida has its share of challenges, and The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce is uniquely qualified to be a central resource, to act as a bridge, and lead a collaborative effort of businesses, local governments, civic organizations, and individuals working together, to address our challenges and continuously effect positive change. To help communicate this unique positioning to the community and create a consistent identity, we developed a strategic, corporate brand identity program. As a result, The Chamber is equipped to effectively communicate its priorities and to strategically form partnerships, and our councils and programs can be consistently identified with The Chamber. THE SYNOPSIS Needs Identification The greater Sarasota community is not the same place it was 15, ten or even five years ago. In terms of growth, we ve seen millions invested in high quality development. We see a community that has a unique mix of big city amenities with a small town feel, and we enjoy a great climate and lifestyle. The vision that The Chamber shares with the community is that we can continue to have a great balance of lifestyle benefits and a successful, sustainable business community that offers high quality jobs, hence our tagline Good Life. Good Business. It is important for The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce to be an agent of change, to keep building bridges between the private sector and local government, residents and other stakeholders. To do this, we expanded into four divisions and six councils serving The Chamber s constituents the community, businesses, individuals, and The Chamber itself. We have dedicated volunteer leadership, supported by very capable staff, in all of the councils. That allows us to conduct business in a comprehensive, yet focused way. However, due to the fast growth of Chamber programs and initiatives, our corporate identity became fragmented, resulting in inconsistent logos, themes, design layouts, fonts and messages used by the different councils, committees and programs of The Chamber. Additionally, The Chamber was graphically represented by a sunburst logo, which did not effectively communicate our mission. After conducting extensive research, including focus groups, The Chamber s Marketing Committee discovered that a significant number of those businesses, media, residents and others involved in the focus groups expressed that they did not completely understand The Chamber s mission or its purpose to maximize our members success, the community s competitiveness, and the area s economic strength. Many commented that they did not know The Chamber s involvement within the community or that some of its councils, for example, the Young
Professionals Group and Leadership Sarasota County were even programs of The Chamber. The participants also did not know the differences between The Chamber, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Economic Development Corporation, and some believed The Chamber was part of our county government. The committee recognized the important need to develop an effective branding system to help tell The Chamber s story and unify its individual components. The brand identity program would include a new look that would help The Chamber communicate its mission and allow each council to maintain its individuality but also be unified under a system that reinforces The Chamber s brand. Objectives The Chamber s overall goal was to develop a program that would equip The Chamber with the tools necessary to address the needs of our businesses, organizations and residents as outlined in our research help us communicate the benefits offered, The Chamber s mission or tell The Chamber s story, positioning it as a bridge, and unify all The Chamber s individual components. SMART Objectives: A) Create a new brand identity that would equip The Chamber with the tools to effectively communicate its mission, benefits and services, and position it as the bridge that builds partnerships within the community in order to address our challenges and effect positive change by February 2007. B) Use the new brand identity to maintain a consistent look and feel in all Chamber print and electronic collaterals and to help unify its individual components by April 2007. Audience: The Chamber s audience includes the business community, members, local governments, civic organizations, media, residents, visitors and prospective relocating residents and businesses. Communication Piece and Methodology In order to reach our objectives, we created a new positioning statement to help us communicate The Chamber s story. The Brand Positioning Statement that drives our expanded direction is: To energize our diverse community in a rapidly evolving marketplace, The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce is the bridge that links businesses, organizations and residents together with innovative programs that strengthen long-term economic vitality, business success, job creation and quality of life. The Chamber continues to position itself to live up to strategic and key roles. The Chamber decided to keep its tagline Good Life. Good Business. The Chamber chose to keep this tagline because it continues to reflect The Chamber s core. As we strive to provide innovative programs that strengthen our economy and businesses Good Business, we also strive for a high quality of life Good Life. The Chamber sent a request for proposals to all member advertising, marketing and communications firms. The request included a sample logo design, corporate stationery package, monthly calendar post card, flyer templates and new print newsletter design. Additional inquiries
were answered at a bidder s conference, and a budget of $14,000 - $15,000 and sponsorship positions at The Chamber s main, four annual events was set a side for the project. A group of ten qualified marketing, advertising and communications professionals from diverse industries, including media, the arts and nonprofit, served on the Evaluation Committee and examined the five proposals. After the first found of evaluations, three firms were invited to present their proposals with their team members, and a firm was chosen in November 2006. Chamber staff, along with the Marketing Committee and Evaluation Committee administered this project through completion. They conducted the research, determined the budget and measured the results. The new brand identity program was revealed at The Chamber s Annual Kick-Off Breakfast in February 2007, and the project was finalized in March 2007. Project Schedule: September 25, 2006 September 25-29, 2006 September 29, 2006 October 13, 2006 October 16-20, 2006 October 20, 2006 October 26, 2006 November 22, 2006 December 1, 2006 February 2, 2007 February 2, 2007 February 6, 2007 February 16, 2007 February 23, 2007 March 1, 2007 April 6, 2007 April 2007 Release of RFP Query Interested applicants respond; formal RFP sent to all interested parties who respond to the query Bidder s Conference; 8-9 AM, Chamber Boardroom Proposals due by 12 Noon to The Chamber Evaluation Committee reviews proposal and selects finalists Finalists Notified Presentation by finalists and final choice by committee Firm Selected and notified Logo/Design revisions Chamber Logo Finalized Council Logos Finalized Presentation of logos to Executive Committee Launch new brand to members/media/community Stationery package, calendar post card, flyer templates finalized Visual Standards Guide complete Newsletter design template finalized Project Complete Brand Identity Program included the following items: 1) New Chamber Logo & New Council Logos 2) Corporate Stationery Package 3) Calendar Post Card Design 4) Flyer Templates 5) Visual Standards Guide 6) Newsletter Design Template
Budget: Hard Dollar Payment $14,925 Sponsorship Position at Annual Kick-Off Breakfast valued at $2000 Sponsorship Position at Hob Nob...Sarasota Style valued at $1000 Sponsorship Position at Small Business Awards valued at $250 Sponsorship Position at Annual Membership Meeting & Luncheon valued at $1650 Banner ad on Chamber Web site valued at $2000 Display ad in Chamber print newsletter valued at $2640 One-year Chamber membership valued at $385 Total Cash Payment: $14,925 Total In-Kind: $9925 Evaluation The Corporate Brand Identity Program was a success, as we accomplished our overall objectives. A) Create a new brand identity that would equip The Chamber with the tools to effectively communicate its mission, benefits and services, and position it as the bridge that builds partnerships within the community in order to address our challenges and effect positive change by February 2007. - Our new logo identifies us graphically as the bridge - Our distinct new teal/green color symbolizes The Chamber s support of prosperity and growth and also helps to distinguish between the logos of other area chambers and business, visitor and economic development organizations (of which several are blue and graphically represented by the beach, water, palm trees, etc.) - Each council is able to maintain its individuality but is also unified under this new system that reinforces The Chamber Brand by visually tying each one back to The Chamber - The new look is incorporated in all print and electronic collaterals, including newsletters that communicate our mission, benefits and services B) Use the new brand identity to maintain a consistent look and feel in all Chamber print and electronic collaterals and to help unify its individual components by April 2007. - A Visual Identity Standards Guide was created and is referenced when designing collateral materials to help maintain brand consistency - The Chamber has adopted a font family that is used in all collaterals to maintain brand consistency - Collaterals for Chamber events and programs always include the council or Chamber logo prominently displayed The Chamber is now equipped with the tools necessary to help communicate its mission and new initiatives, including a strategic fundraising campaign to improve the business climate, redesigned Web site to provide resources for members and the community, and a public relations campaign to tell The Chamber s story. Since the project s completion, print advertising revenue increased by 21 percent, Chamber memberships increased more than 10 percent, and Trustee memberships increased more than 14 percent.