We’re big believers that the most sustainably successful (i.e. responsible) organizations are those that align their business strategy, brand marketing and cultural health. So it was a monumental thrill when Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina asked us to lead their rebrand in the most comprehensive way possible — with equitable consideration for each branch of this trifecta.
It’s true that the brand delivers three unique benefits to three unique constituencies — donors get a convenient path to clutter-free-lives, shoppers find values unparalleled in retail, and jobseekers see the profits fund entry into new careers via training and placement programs. But it’s in the unseen connections between those groups and the exchanges of value from person to person that the cumulative magic of the organization is felt. Goodwill is a place to help yourself and others in the very same act, no matter who you are or what you’re after. Out of this virtuous circle, a positioning theme was born that’s as simple as it is all-encompassing.
Once the organization’s strategy was set firmly into the brand’s positioning, we turned our attention to external brand marketing. And because donations are the lifeblood of the Goodwill phenomenon, mass media campaigns were crafted to remind donor audiences that their battle with clutter can end any day of the week.
Simultaneously came the vital work of bringing the new positioning to life for the organization’s most important ambassadors: its employees. These cultural impressions were made with a series of employee events and internal communications.
