Sometimes you get it right. Really right. That’s what happened when I had the courage to say “yes” to taking Kiwanis’ brand message into uncharted territory and advocate for a big change. Rather than talk about clubs, leaders and 100 years of blah, blah, blah, same old, same old, we would focus the brand directly on Kiwanis’ mission: The kids Kiwanis clubs serve. Those goofy, messy, energetic and vulnerable kids who need help in communities around the world.
And we’d finally stop taking ourselves so seriously. We’d stop being boring. We needed a message that attracted new members
We help kids, and we have fun.
It took courage to say “yes” to a brand campaign that included the header “The average four-year-old eats more boogers than broccoli,” —but it wasn’t that brave. I had quantitative and qualitative data to inform that this was the right move to attract the new members we wanted to recruit. And I had the good sense to hire Borshoff whose team of talented creatives and leaders get mad, mad props for this stuff.
This was not inexpensive, but I knew it was right. I built consensus with the international board, secured funding, worked a “brand solidification” involving educating PR volunteers around the world, and rebuilt our website. Then, we flipped the script and launched “Kids Need Kiwanis” leading into Kiwanis International’s 100th anniversary. It’s one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done.
This is a taste of that the new brand feels like (not an ad). I’m proud that Kiwanis is still using this brand identity.
Here are two of the ads we produced for clubs to use and for paid advertising launched in select markets (with a 30% increase in awareness gained)
Want to see some of the :15’s? https://vimeopro.com/kiwanis/kids-need-kiwanis/
Amy Martin 