There’s real power in a partnership… We learned this lesson in more ways than one with Columbia Water & Light.

When Columbia Water & Light asked us to create a strong, engaging presence for their Energy Efficiency Programs— one that customers could relate to and connect with—we said, “Sign us up!”

Based on focus group findings and conversations with Water & Light staff, we found that most people have a pretty positive approach to energy efficiency.  They want it to be simple and to save them money.  And, they understand that a mutually beneficial relationship between the customer and the utility is a good thing.  Everyone wins when the responsibility of energy efficiency is shared.

So, we came up with: You and Columbia Water & Light: it’s a Powerful Partnership.

The concept allows customers to feel they’re part of something significant—a collective experience of environmental accountability. Print ads, web ads, radio, TV and a designated website empower customers with simple actions they can take to save money.

And it’s worked.  The number of participants in the city’s Energy Efficiency Programs has doubled, sometimes even quadrupled, in the last year.

Saving money and saving energy: it’s a partnership that’s worth continuing.

Learn more at: www.columbiapowerpartners.com.

The second part of our frumpy-to-fabulous tale is where we get into the heavy lifting. (catch up on Part 1 here, if you missed it.)

To go along with the new name and positioning statement, we needed to freshen up the old Food Bank logo, which looked like this:

Notice I said “freshen.” As tempting as it can sometimes be to start from scratch, in this case, that wasn’t the best idea. Just like a celebrity with worldwide recognition, we didn’t want to do so much “work” that she wouldn’t even look like herself anymore. So instead of pulling out a blank piece of paper, we started tweaking the existing logo, a little at a time, until the overall look was a cleaner, more sophisticated version of itself.

The first issue at hand was the type. In the old logo, the Food Bank name was set in Helvetica. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with good ol’ Helvetica. It’s kind of like a little black dress—it looks good on everyone. But since the Food Bank is such a unique place, we wanted to inject a little more personality into the brand.

We ended up choosing a typeface called Hermes. A bit more distinctive, yet still a strong foundation for the rest of the logo.

While Hermes is a great font to use for the wordmark, it doesn’t work very well for chunks of body copy. Our solution was to choose a complementary typeface that would fill in where Hermes didn’t do the best job, and help keep all of the Food Bank’s brand materials consistent.

Enter Caecilia:

Caecilia’s a flexible girl, and comes in many different styles and weights, making her a great fit for not only the positioning statement, but use in brand collateral as well.

Next up, color. After lots of research, we came to the (very scientific) conclusion that everyone and their mama’s food bank logos feature shades of green. Yes, green makes sense, but its well, predictable. Purple? Not so predictable. And again, we didn’t want to abandon the feel of the old logo, so the purple stayed.

The question was, which purple? The old logo was lacking a consistent color across all applications. Now, if you’ve been faithful blog readers, you should know where this is headed. Yes, a PMS color! Since we were freshening up anyway, we chose a more subdued shade of purple that added some richness and sophistication to the logo.

For multiple reasons (versatility being key), the logo was kept to one color. But we did establish a complementary palette to be used throughout Food Bank brand materials. You know, it’s that whole consistency thing…

Our final order of business was polishing the logo symbol itself. Over the years, the Food Bank had realized that the detail in the basket of food wasn’t reproducing well, so simplifying and streamlining were at the top of the list.

We took as much detail out of the food as we could, while keeping it recognizable. We also took the crosshatch detail out of the basket and “rotated” the basket in order to achieve a side view of the handle.

Well, now, loyal readers, you’ve finally made it to the big reveal! Drumroll, please…

Tada! And with the positioning line…

We are thrilled with how our brand makeover project turned out, but more importantly, so is our client. Since the transformation, we’ve helped the Food Bank revamp their website, freshen up brand materials like business cards and brochures, and add the new logo to the building signage and Food Bank vehicles.

Man, someone should totally give us our own makeover show…

If you’ve lived in Columbia as long as I have, I’m sure you’ve seen it: that ubiquitous purple circle adorning trucks, donation bins, t-shirts and flyers around town. I’m talking about the Food Bank logo. And if you’ve been paying attention over the past few months, you might have noticed that our friend is looking a little different these days (no, not because of Botox.)

Last fall, our longtime friends at the Central Missouri Food Bank approached VANGEL about working on a brand refresh. Since the organization’s start in 1981, they’ve done more than a little growing, and needed to update the brand in order to reflect that growth.

The first item of business was the name. While down here in Boone County, the Central Missouri prefix seems perfectly acceptable, the Food Bank actually serves 32 counties, including those in the very Northeast corner of our state. After much discussion, we suggested that the name be changed to The Food Bank of Central & Northeast Missouri. We felt the new name would help everyone in the Food Bank’s service area feel acknowledged and valued. We were also confident that this name adjustment wouldn’t be too disruptive, as it would easily accommodate the fact that most simply refer to the organization as “The Food Bank.”

After we established the new name, we started working on a new positioning statement. Over the years, the Food Bank has used a variety of positioning lines, based on the material and/or venue. While there was nothing wrong with the statements already in use, our goal was to come up with something that would be all-encompassing in its expression of the Food Bank’s purpose and mission.

So what did we come up with? Sharing Food. Bringing Hope. This new positioning statement sends a message that association with the Food Bank satisfies the needs of both giver and receiver. It creates positive opportunities for involvement on both sides of the relationship.

With a new name and tagline in hand, we were ready to give the logo a facelift. If this were an episode of Extreme Home Makeover, we’d be at the home-staging phase, where they bring in all the fancy new furniture and make everything look pretty. And in true Home Makeover style, you’ll have to stick around until after the break to see the big reveal…

In 2009, nonprofit organization First Chance for Children came to VANGEL with a challenge:

Develop a public service campaign to reach young, low-income mothers about the importance of reading and interacting with their baby.

Research shows that reading, holding, talking, and playing with a baby directly affects the language and cognitive skills that prepare that child for school success.  That’s why First Chance for Children is dedicated to parent interaction as part of an early education system that helps every child arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed.

In order to understand our target audience, VANGEL and First Chance for Children conducted two focus groups. Specifically, we were looking for information that would steer the strategic direction of our public service campaign and ensure our creative execution resonated with the audience.

The focus groups revealed some interesting things about this group of mothers:

• They are very aware of the importance of reading and talking to their babies.
• Their biggest barrier is time. Interestingly, participants’ idea of how much time it would take to make a difference was one hour a day.
• They do not want to be preached at. Participants indicated they would like to be “shown” the message, not “told what to do.”

Based on this research, VANGEL developed a campaign that reminds mothers that just a few minutes can make a difference.  We chose our messengers strategically, as a way to “show” rather than “tell.”  The result is two 30-second television public service announcements, “Just Five Minutes” and “When I Was a Baby,” supplemented with radio ads and bus boards.

VANGEL is proud to work with First Chance for Children. And we’re proud of this just-completed campaign.  Thanks to Columbia-based Boxcar Films for some beautiful footage, and all of our local actors for a job well done.

If you’re looking to reach a particular target audience in an effective and compelling way, give VANGEL a call.

How do you tell the story of a powerful financing product with a catchy name like the “504 Loan Program” without, well, without bringing on a snooze-fest? You put a human face on it and give it a compelling voice. The success stories we created for the annual report of our client, RMI, do both.

With great photography, clean design and stories that people can relate to, we managed to keep everyone awake and, in the process, offered up some good information about an important financial resource that helps build businesses, create jobs and encourages community growth.

Learn how RMI helped the Totsikas family—originally from Greece—achieve their American dream in this profile featured in the RMI 2009 Annual Report.  Click here to download a .PDF of their story.

You can find a whole slew of inspiring entrepreneurs and small business success stories on the spiffy new website we created for RMI at rmiinc.org.