What’s in a Name? How One Nonprofit Breathed New Life Into Its Brand

    Just last month, Special Transit announced a name change. This after more than 30 years of serving the community, recent success in a capital campaign, and a client base of more than 2,600 people.

    And the new corporate name is….Via Mobility Services. The brand name is Via. The tagline is Mobility for Life. So just call them Via.

    Why did they do it? How? What did they learn in the process? What should you know if your organization is considering a name change?

    To find out all this and more, Front Range Source spoke to Mary Cobb, Director of Communications.

    FR Source: Why did Special Transit, now Via, decide to rebrand?

    Mary Cobb: We’d been contemplating a name change for some time. The words in our name were in some ways problematic. “Special” is not a term that is regarded favorably in the disability community any longer and we felt it critical that our language be respectful of all our customers. “Transit” connotes public transportation and, of course, we are not part of the RTD.

    We also felt that our brand did not adequately reflect the full scope of our current services or our clients. While our paratransit program is a signature service for us, we also offer individual and group travel training, mobility options information and referral and community resources. Nor did it reflect our plans for the future…namely to be the one-call mobility options resource for Boulder County. And we really wanted a name that connected on a more emotional level with our individual supporters.

    These issues came to a head when we moved into our new building last year. The building is such a physical representation of the fact that we had outgrown our space. It gave us the opportunity wonder, have we outgrown our name too?

    Front Range Source: How did the process unfold?

    Mary Cobb: Two committees addressed the rebranding question. First, while we were completing the capital campaign, a “transformation committee” explored perceptions of Special Transit in the community, how to strengthen the fundraising component of the organization, and where we wanted to go in the future. They asked: who do we want to be in the community when we “grow up”?

    After three focus groups, this committee learned that there was a limited understanding of our work, but that the value of our brand was very high after 32 years. If we changed our name, there would need to be a really strategic reason to do it.

    Based on their findings, we established a marketing and communications committee including board, staff and community volunteers. They spent six months examining case studies of other nonprofits that had done name-changes and/or rebranding efforts and they established criteria for what would make a rebranding successful. We also did an on-line survey to gather input and begin to introduce the idea of a possible rebranding among those closest to us.

    During this process, we thought a lot about our donors and what a name change might mean to them. It became clear to us that institutional funders have a less emotional connection to what we call ourselves but are more concerned with community impact, and that individuals required a stronger emotional connection to the name. This was an “aha” moment for us and helped us hone our rebranding so that it focused on individuals as clients and donors.

    Front Range Source: Was it hard to get board, staff and volunteers on board with the idea of doing a rebranding?

    Mary Cobb: The Board was really committed to this process. We knew through our recently completed capital campaign that we had to do more marketing and outreach in the community, whether we changed the name or not. In terms of staff and volunteers, we made sure it was not a surprise to anyone. I posted everything on my office door so people could watch the name and logo iterations, and write comments. It was very much a consensus building process, although we made it clear all along that the final decision would be made by the Board and the Executive Director.

    How did you resource the rebranding project?

    Mary Cobb: We have the good fortune to have an earned revenue component to our business plan, what is now called social enterprise. We planned ahead and set aside money from those revenues for the rebranding a year in advance.

    What was the role of a design and marketing firm in the process?

    Mary Cobb: Vermillion was chosen from a final pool of three firms. They facilitated a process of brainstorming and consensus building, including a board retreat. They also did a financial analysis of the difference between marketing with a new name and marketing with no name change. The key difference for us was the cost of “wrapping” our fleet of 38 vehicles.

    The other important thing that Vermilion provided was a “roll-out” plan. If we were going to make this change, we were going to do it right and we were going to let everyone know about it! We’ve done direct mail. We did a large community launch with author Rachel Simon. We’re doing small launch events in every community that we serve, we’ve put together a new Web site, video, e-newsletter, and are planning a digital and print campaign for April and May.

    Front Range Source: What were the surprises along the way, if any?

    Mary Cobb: The implementation is taking way more time and effort that I expected. Small details, like employees’ badges and driver uniform emblems, seem endless. I thought it would be a 6-month transition, but it’s going to be more like a year.

    Front Range Source: What advice would you give to a nonprofit considering a rebranding?

    Mary Cobb: I’d say four things really stand out from our experience:

    1. A rebranding is not a staff effort. The leadership must come from the board and it has to have total board commitment.

    2. Build consensus all along the way. Open up the process to all the employees at certain times, but be clear how the final decision will be made.

    3. A name change should be a strategic decision in the context of the organization’s trajectory. Does the name support where we’re headed?

    4. You have to enter the process completely open, with a sense of exploration and discovery. Don’t decide in advance whether or not you’ll change the name. See where the process takes you.

    Thank you, Mary, for sharing the story of how Via Mobility Services got its name!

    Via.

    Check out Via’s new video here.


    1 Comments

    • Travis Railey, March 23rd, 2012 on 10:29 am

      Loved this! Thank you, Mary, for sharing your experience with such candor. Very inspiring.

    Leave a Reply