Creating a New Brand for a Historic Nonprofit
What happens when a 144-year-old rescue mission needs a new name and fresh look to match their five-star approach?
They turn to a communications partner who specializes in the faith space.
Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a 144-year-old homeless shelter with a significant history in the city of Philadelphia, needed to refresh its brand and strengthen its name, visual identity, messaging and positioning while still protecting its rich legacy and tenured reputation.
The board and staff had done tremendous work internally to make their organization a first-class shelter, but they now needed that standard of excellence to be reflected externally to clients, donors, partners and other constituents.
To accomplish this, they turned to Guardian, a strategic communications agency whose team leverages a combined 150 years of experience serving people and organizations driven by faith. Guardian understands the nuances of the niche and its language, methods and eternal goals.
‘‘Rebranding our 144-year-old organization was a scary initiative. Choosing Guardian—who understands us as a Christian ministry—instantly instilled a trust amongst our board and staff.’’
Jeremy Montgomery
CEO, Philly House
A New Identity
Guardian began the process by conducting a brand audit, engaging in a thorough analysis of the current brand strength, the competitive landscape, situational context, alignment and misalignment of message, and resonance with audiences and key stakeholders.
From there, the team concepted a new name: Philly House. “Philly,” an insider’s reference to its historic sense of place and missional calling. “House,” the image of a welcoming, safe, refuge from the streets for the homeless, hungry and hurting—a place that treats everyone like family.
Along with the name, a new visual brand identity—including a fresh logo, color palette and suite of fonts—was developed to anchor the brand DNA into the mind of the viewer through symbolism and beauty.
As the name, messaging and visual identities were solidified with the rescue mission leadership, the Guardian team brought the brand to life with physical resources (brochures and signage) as well as digital elements (email newsletter templates, website mockups, templates for business cards and letterhead.
‘‘All brand work should be anchored by an investigatory process. To effectively guide the process, we had to understand where the organization was, where they wanted to go and what gaps were in that journey.’’
Guardian project member
The Digital First Impression
Understanding the critical moment and singular opportunity to reintroduce the brand, Guardian designed and developed the new phillyhouse.org with a completely refreshed website experience, giving the organization not just the ability to provide streamlined information, but also the opportunity to engage audiences with a compelling story that invites them to join the journey.
To kick off the website rebuild, Guardian conducted a comprehensive site audit to gather user requirements, analyze user insights and search behavior via Google Analytics, and conduct baseline keyword research that would serve as an overarching framework for search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
By leveraging these key insights, the team proposed a new site map to empower a streamlined content and user experience. Once approved, Guardian kicked off the website development with wireframes, then moved to a prototype site and ultimately a staging environment for desktop and mobile. Guardian also guided the organization through the photography selection, content development, optimization and quality assurance (QA) process, working through all elements to ensure every component and third-party integration was implemented and working seamlessly prior to launch.
‘‘The web and search experience really are the front doors to a brand in this day and age. After the brand fundamentals were developed, we knew the organization needed to offer a remarkable digital experience to communicate their commitment to excellence in all areas.’’
Guardian project member
A Thoughtfully Timed Rollout
Renaming an organization is a significant moment and should be an exciting experience for the ministry—both internally and externally. In preparation for a thoughtful brand relaunch, Guardian created a strategy and detailed plan for communicating the new brand to key audiences and the general public.
The relaunch plan covered key objectives such as:
Defining communications goals and target audiences.
Creating a detailed inventory of all brand touchpoints to be updated.
Drafting customized key messages to guide all communications, including internal announcements to board members and staff, and external announcements to donors, partner organizations and the public.
Brainstorming strategies to engage and generate excitement across various methods and media, including email distributions, in-person gatherings and social media.
Providing a detailed outline of the brand rollout timing.
The Guardian team also provided strategic counsel and scripts for the launch event; key messaging and tailored announcement communiqués for each distinct audience; e-communications content for a lead-generation drip campaign; and a social media rollout plan with content and visual assets to accompany the brand transition.
‘‘We initially only engaged Guardian to lead us through their multi-stage rebranding process. Yet, because their thinking, service and deliverables matched the excellence we aim to deliver in our ministry and to those we serve, we extended that work to include website design and so much more. We couldn’t be happier with the result! And, we recommend them to anyone else considering an assessment or update to their brand.’’
Jeremy Montgomery
CEO, Philly House
In Summary
As a result of the detailed planning and close collaboration between Philly House and Guardian, the launch event and brand rollout were a great success, resulting in energized and invigorated staff members, clients, donors and partners. Philly House’s investment to better communicate its commitment to stay on the cutting edge of care-delivery has helped solidify a strong future for the organization and its five-star approach.
By clarifying objectives, coordinating efforts, using consistent messaging and prioritizing audiences, the partnership with Guardian enabled this historic brand to achieve a thorough, smooth transition into a new era.
What About You?
How is your organization positioned? Does your brand stand out? Does it accurately reflect who you are? Is your website optimized and are your digital channels relevant and compelling?
If you have questions or concerns about your communications, we would be happy to set up an exploratory discussion. We are passionate about the work of rescue missions and would be honored to help advance your cause.
