Research-driven brand platform creates alignment and drives organizational change.
“I love the simplicity and the way the mission statement I selected truly embodies the life of my Savior Jesus. It enables me to follow him in three specific ways, and beautifully encapsulates the thrust of Lutheran Social Services. In addition, it creates agency with its words. Incredible! Nice work!”
Health care and social services in the United States today are continually changing, forcing the organizations providing these services to either adapt with the times, or be left behind. LSS of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan was quickly adapting, and Kane helped to ensure its internal and external brand properly reflected the organization as it stands today.
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan began responding to these changes on an operational level – but hadn’t articulated this new direction to their many audiences. As such, communication materials were inconsistent and without standards. This lack of alignment about the organization’s direction was resulting in confusion with leaders, employees, board members, donors, partners and even clients. Through a comprehensive brand discovery process, Kane defined a new set of brand, graphic and communication standards that aligned with the organization’s new vision, mission and values.
LSS is one of the oldest and largest human and social services organizations in the Midwest, serving more than 37,000 individuals throughout the two-state region. LSS identified alignment issues between LSS leadership, boards, employees, clients and consumers in their understanding of the organization, its services and purpose. As such, providing a clear vision, language and visuals to describe the organization that could be used by all would be incredibly helpful as LSS evolves, recruits, fundraises and grows in the years ahead. During surveys Kane conducted with key audiences, this need was reiterated, with clients stating:
“Over the years LSS ministries have changed, some starting, some never getting off the ground. I am not really certain what LSS is really providing.” – Community partner
“Unfortunately it appears the needs for services continues to grow at a rate faster than the available resources. I believe LSS needs to further focus its mission to help insure its viability. Its future mission will only matter if the company is viable.” – LSS board member
SOLUTION
Kane gathered feedback from various audiences and stakeholders to determine what the current understanding and perception of the organization was and to assure a refined brand was designed with all audiences in mind. Questions were designed to gather an understanding of alignment on LSS’s mission and vision, and to set a Net Promoter Score benchmark. Activities included:
1:1s with senior leaders
A survey of employees, leaders, operating board members, foundation board members, donors, partner organizations and clients
Focus groups with leaders and board members
Focus groups with employees
Video survey message testing with clients, partner organizations, donors and employees
In-person feedback sessions with board members
Employee and board member surveys on revised mission statement options
Current marketing material inventory analysis
Throughout the process, Kane solicited examples of REAL stories of the organization at its best to understand LSS’s common messages, value proposition and purpose. Kane’s brand strategists then distilled the information to create a new platform for all brand messaging.
RESULTS
In all, Kane solicited input, feedback and buy-in from nearly 500 different stakeholders for LSS throughout the process. The result was a complete brand standards guide including a more focused mission, achievable vision and accurate values providing direction for employees and a clear understanding of LSS for external audiences. When rolled out, feedback from board members included comments like the following:
“The words in that mission statement issue an identity and a call to discipleship that I think would please our Lord Jesus. All I can say is, WOW.” – LSS Board Member
Kane also provided direction on how graphics could be aligned for cohesion through a graphic standards portion of the guide as well. Today, marketing communications materials look like they are all coming from ONE organization.
Kane understands that all of this research and work would be meaningless if employees were not able to integrate the new brand language and look into the work they produced every day. Therefore, Kane provided LSS with a launch plan, with strategies to announce the refreshed brand to internal and external audiences. This plan included considerations for the initial launch, as well as ways to integrate language into day-to-day and ongoing communications. Leaders were provided with elevator speeches and key messages. Employees were provided with new templates. Human resources made updates to job postings.
Best of all, LSS’s new guiding principle of “servant leadership” was so embraced by the organization that the human capital team is developing training and onboarding programming to assure this principal is engrained in the culture of the organization from the ground up.