I came across this useful article while mulling over a project where the client is asking for a strong emphasis on brand.
In” You’re Not Nike — Get Over It”, Jeff Brooks frames the issue very nicely:
“An effective nonprofit takes a different approach: Instead of a look-at-me brand, it’s a look-at-you brand.”
Exactly. He introduces this point with a discussion of the difference in “customer payoff” delivered with the transaction. With iPhone, you get an iPhone. With XXnonprofitXX, you get some satisfaction, feeling like you’re making something happen that you really want to happen.
So the “brand” doesn’t reside in the organization. It’s in that experience.
We can argue that this is exactly the same for iPhone or Nike. But they at least have a deliverable that makes a noise when you throw it against the wall.
Back to the client discussion, hoping the help them understand that this has got to be about the stories, not the PMS or the logo or the visuals that add a lot of cost to a communication but rarely deliver in additional donations … short term or long.