Considering a Branding Engagement?
You can learn a lot from the organizations and people who have been through the process. Let us help you.
If your organization is considering undertaking a branding initiative or refreshing your brand, it's a great idea to look at process examples and results accomplished by other organizations.
The following case studies are available for download in PDF document form at no cost to you.
All you need to do is drop us a short note using our contact page (by clicking here). We will send you a user name and password that will take you to a page where you can easily download the case studies of your choice.
Case Study Summaries
Arena Stage, Washington, DC
Arena Stage, Washington's leading theatre for over five decades, was re-branded during the late 90s to signal the commencement of Molly Smith's tenure as Artistic Director. The initiative was led by Neill Archer Roan who was then Arena Stage's Director of External Affairs. Graphic design work was done by Mires Ball, a firm that Neill previously worked with when he was Executive Vice President of the California Center for the Arts - Escondido.
ArtsMemphis, Memphis, TN
The ArtsMemphis Case Study is significant because the branding initiative involved re-naming a venerable 40-year old united arts funding organization, the Greater Memphis Arts Council. Many organizations don't understand that brand initiatives disproportionately impact fund development, especially when the initiative is designed to increase awareness. A principal engagement goal involved growing donor numbers and contributions, both of which have successfully occurred.
DC Youth Orchestra Branding Case Study
Few - if any - of the nation's youth orchestras have accomplished so much for their alumni as has the DC Youth Orchestra Program. Founded nearly 50 years ago, the program has produced alumni who lead university music schools, who are Grammy-award-winning composers, and who perform in leading professional orchestras. Despite its accomplishments, the program languished due to signicant competitive incursion, poor facilities, and fundraising challenges. During our work with the program, the organization learned to tell its story and broadcast its brand in very powerful ways. As a result of honing its messages and re-crafting its brand stratgegy, the program's Executive addressed the National Council for the Arts; the orchestra was invited to perform at the Obama White House and at the recent visit by the Ecumenical Patriarch at the State Department, and was the subject of an in-depth All Things Considered feature broadcast nationally on NPR.
The Southern Alberta Art Gallery
Located on the wind-swept plains of the rural Canadian West, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery has long been considered one of North America's most adventurous and visionary contemporary art galleries. Indeed, the gallery's exhibition history placed it squarely on the must-exhibit-at institutions among leading contemporary artists, worldwide. Astounding as it was that the little rural gallery produced exhibitions that traveled to large urban centers, the gallery's accomplishments were unappreciated and even unknown among many of its hometown constituents. Like many first-rate visual arts institutions, the gallery had previously concerned itself primarily with exhibiting great art, and only distantly with marketing itself and telling its story. The gallery's work in refinining its identity and telling its story helped propel it towards its rightful place in the minds and hearts of those who live around it, not just those who admire it from afar.
Walton Arts Center
Built and launched less than two decades ago in Fayetteville, Arkansas - the home of the University of Arkansas - the Walton Arts Center has made a name for itself for its innovative, best-practices management. Presentations on the Center's branding program have been presented and discussed in arts marketing conferences and seminars here and abroad in plenary sessions, special seminars, and in foundation-convened conferences. The Center accomplished groundbreaking work in operationalizing brand touchpoints and in driving a brand-centered organizational structure.