entertainment

Not Just A Fun Place To Stay: 'Y' Rebrands

YMCADesigning a new brand platform for a 160-year-old organization is no easy task, particularly when that organization is as diverse and well-known as the YMCA.

"They really needed to clarify their positioning and voice," Alan Siegel, founder of Siegel + Gale, which developed a new brand platform for the newly rechristened "the Y," tells Marketing Daily. "There was a lot of research and thought put into this."

The new brand platform involved a two-year development process that looked to reflect the character of the more than 2,600 individual "Y" organizations around the country. Through research, the agency discovered that although many people knew of the Y, most associations were for fitness and swimming. The new brand architecture is intended to reflect three key areas: youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

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"People wanted to give to the Y, but they didn't know what they were giving to or joining," says Hayley Berlent, senior stategist at Siegel + Gale. "Unlike a lot of non-profits, they do a lot of things for a broad range of people."

Central to the new brand platform is a multicolored logo that is more welcoming and reflective of the "vibrancy of communities" served by the various Y organizations. "The Y is at its core all about communities," Berlent says. "The primary goal is to represent the fun people have with all the gravitas of a non-profit."

Earlier this month, the Girl Scouts of the USA introduced a new brand platform that sought to broaden the organization's appeal among girls beyond "cookies, crafts and camping," according to a GSUSA executive. While Siegel + Gale did not work on the Girl Scouts effort, the Y rebranding is similar in that it needs to appeal not only to current members, but potential members and donors as well, Siegel says.

"The most interesting and successful projects [for us] have been in the not-for-profit sector," Siegel says. "Being able to define who you are in clear terms, and get recognition -- the not-for-profits are beginning to understand that."

Having introduced the new logo and brand architecture, Berlent expects full implementation to take as long as five years, as the individual organizations work through their old materials and slowly begin working the new materials into their programs. "This is a federation [of organizations]," she says. "The way it's going to be successful is to activate the organization to live the promise. I think the leaders are committed to driving this home."

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