DK Holland

When I conduct branding research for my non profit client, after establishing what the interviewee perceives the values of the NPO to be, I probe to see what human associations the person makes with the values. I give an example. I say “When you think ‘nonviolence’ you may think ‘Gandhi’. 30% or more seem to make absolutely no association. Truth. Freedom. Democracy. Whatever the value, no connection is made with an individual. Yet the rest are passionate about their connections. They are very real to them. Those people are able to think abstractly, metaphorically while the 30% perhaps can not.

Every year on October 2nd (International Nonviolence Day) people adorn this statue of Gandhi with flowers and leave offerings of cookies at his feet. As if this were the real man, wafer thin, walking barefoot across India to create his nation. Yet this is but a rigid stone figure in Union Square, New York, 2007. And the rats will probably get the cookies.

We straddle a seesaw of magic and reality; of compassion and pragmaticism. We are continually putting human faces to abstract values. Every day. Understanding this perception as it relates to the values is an important part of branding – in the NPO world, especially – where values are the essence of our work.

Quakers (AKA The Society of Friends), who some misguidedly think are either Amish or dead, are in fact alive and assimilated – actively engaged in worshipful activities all over the world. Friends’ testimonies (statements of values) form the acronym ’spices’: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship.

Quaker Oats Company logo (black-hatted, white-haired 19th Century man) just perpetuates confusion. The reality is, Quakers are very modern, just not self-promotional.

Quaker Oats, which was neither started by a quaker nor affiliated, as far as I know, with the religion in any way, has, however, become holistic in the last couple of years, glomming onto the values of Quakerism into its branding. Like quakers, they want to inspire you to live the simple life.

The newest Quaker Oats product, Simple Harvest is a good example. If you go to their site, they – as many, maybe most – manufacturers, are now on the band wagon of sustainability.

Very Quakerly and, you know what? That’s ok with me. Hey, what are Friends for?

I, like Carnac the Magnificent, can tell you the contents of 95% of the nonprofit solicitations that come in my mail each day – without opening the envelopes. Inside there will be a two-page letter from the head of the organization with a lengthy, highly crafted explanation of what the organization is doing, which makes It abundantly clear that the need is more than urgent. There may be a petition for me to sign and send back for submission to Congress. There will definitely be a plea for money.

I further predict that I will not read the letters even though I believe the organizations are doing good work. I will, however, feel manipulated. And I will toss the often-unopened envelopes in the trash.

What about the other 5 percent? Those are always nice surprises. I look forward to getting Greenpeace mailings, for instance. I take their missives home to savor the clarity, honesty and confidence (writing and photography included) of their branding message. I get a charge every time. So much so that I doubled my monthly donation recently when they called and asked.

When people are confused about what branding is – which happens every day – I bring up examples like Greenpeace, and MoMA and the American Red Cross to show how clear branding can help push an organization forward and how fuzzy branding can impede it. I tell them branding doesn’t start with a great logo. It starts with a focused board, staff that is well led and motivated, all pulling together on a mutual quest to accomplish a well defined and worthy mission. When you get a sense that those who run the organization have a realistic and innovative plan, that they aren’t just spinning their wheels, that’s when you have a great nonprofit brand.

When that nonprofit makes eye contact with you through their well designed branded materials, for instance, and you gain confidence that they are on the ball ¬– not mired in bureaucracy – you become an advocate. That’s when you give – of their time, energy, enthusiasm and, yes, money.

When I work with nonprofits to help them create a more effective brand identity, I tell them fuzzy branding results in confusion, depression, slow progress, low funding. All the nonprofits I work with are on the right track in terms of their programming – they just don’t have their branding act together. So we enter a kind of virtual gymnasium together (with a good designer, writer) to build up their branding muscles.

For instance, do they have a mission that is memorable? So many NPOs have written-by-committee, compromised-language mission statements that are paragraphs long and unrepeatable. They tend to be prescriptive, limiting and complex. Together, we hone their mission down to 7 pithy words – max – to answer the questions What at the end of the day do we want to be remembered for? What is our purpose? Everyone (including the board, especially the board) knows it. It is included on all important documents. It’s like a mantra.

Another typical problem: Does their name make sense? Recently an NPO came to me about wanting to go national and as I spoke to them on the phone I Googled them. No less than 7 other nonprofits around the country had the same or a very similar name. Carnac says: I see a name change in your future.

The end result of the re-branding process for the nonprofit is a great brand identity and often they make a significant leap: greater effectiveness in achieving their mission – and in visibility, vitality, growth and support. And the sound of envelopes being opened, checks being written, is music to the ear.

Originally published in Fundraising Success Magazine, June 2007

How honest are we about who Abraham Lincoln was? In his time he was not considered an effective president by many, was prone to depression and had an annoyingly high pitched voice. Yet he was also a great man who took the country through a very rough time – the Civil War. He was martyred on a Friday and eulogized in that Sunday’s sermons all across the country. What if he had lived?

Yesterday I went onto a Web site to find a tap dancing duo – Abe and George – obviously both just tickled silly that the President’s Day sales were just days away.

Every school child knows who Honest Abe was and can tell you in the most cartoony of portraits: ‘He was born in a log cabin he built with his own hands’ (a quote from an actual school kid!). He freed the slaves. He was very tall and wore a top hat.

He is on the money, on Mount Rushmore, seated in his own memorial and immortalized in just too many ways to mention – all ways that reinforce his idealized image. In short, he is an excellent brand on all counts – differentiation, relevance, esteem and reputation.

The latest to co-opt Abe is presidential candidate Barak Obama (dem. Il) who announced his candidacy in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. where Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided” speech against slavery.

Whether Abraham Lincoln deserved such untarnished reverence will probably never be known. He was a human being just like the rest of us but seeing him as one of us would make his idolatry impossible.

Happy birthday, Abe, honest.

Photo: Little Pitchers, Flickr

Are you amazed? Why? Apple Computers has been working towards this since its first iMac was born. This is the ultimate in branding: It’s a seamless progression. And, as part of their business, Apple has become so much more than computers – so lose that word – it’s now just Apple period.

And, of course, Apple being Apple (innovation is it’s middle name), it questioned everything including the need for a button key pad. And so they eliminated it, making the iphone a totally unique product and once again proving that Apple is the only apple among a bunch of lemons.

The form of the iPhone is pure ipod: the graphics come right off OSX because the iPhone runs off OSX. And, in true Apple fashion, they realize that the damn stylus is a drag and ditched that too: get down and dirty, use ‘the best pointing devise in the world’ your pudgy fingers to make commands and scroll.

This is all possible by using multi-touch which Apple has patented, Apple has already created ‘desk top class’ applications including Google Maps, Apple’s calendar, address book, iphoto and Safari.

Unfortunately the telecommunications partner is Cingular which has limited to urban areas but on the plus side, it’s international. You can bet that Apple’s iPhone is going to be a universal hit.

(By the way, if you want to find a Starbucks in San Francisco next time you are there: just ask your iPhone.)