A Brand New MF Brand!

Category: Fellow Updates | | Posted On: Mar/02/2013

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A new brand for a new Melton Foundation

In 2010, the Melton Foundation embarked on a journey to discover itself anew. The strategic planning process led us to the concept around which all our work is now centered: Global Citizenship.

We updated our vision and mission to guide our work and the way forward. But while we changed course, we knew that we’d need to communicate our new journey to the world at large. We knew we would need a new brand identity.

Why a new brand?

We tend to think of a brand as a logo. But it’s more than that. A brand is a promise that creates expectations and perceptions about an organization ora company. The brand identity – which includes our logo, colors and messages (such as our tagline) – is the way we express this promise and set ourselves apart from other organizations. A good brand identity is one that accurately represents what the organization does so there is no disconnect between what the brand “promises” people and what they experience as they get to know us.

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With our updated mission, we are making a renewed commitment and promise – and it is important that our audiences can connect to this commitment visually. This way, we are able to build up our audience and strengthen bonds externally and internally to live up to our promise. Our new brand identity aspires to communicate that commitment while accurately representing who we are as an organization – our personality.

How we got here

In August 2012, at the Global Citizenship Celebration in Jena, we held workshops to gather input on the core characteristics of the Melton Foundation.

Then we interviewed Fellows (Junior and Senior), Campus Coordinators and external partners to gather perceptions of the MF.

In October we formed the Brand Project Team which would represent the diversity of the MF and provide critical feedback on the direction for the visual identity (logo, colors, style) development.

For details on the process leading up to the formation of the Brand Project Team, please check out this slideshow.

The team had many discussions and reviewed more than 20 options for logos, until… we were tied at two possible directions.

So, we asked you – the broader MF community – to vote. More than 200 of you voted and 61% of you chose the direction that has now developed into our new identity.

Following the vote, we reviewed your comments and addressed them in the final version of the logo, color and style. We hope the results speak for themselves.

How to use the new brand

The MF brand can be used by any Fellow or Campus, as long it is being used for Melton Foundation related work or projects.

Our Brand Book explains our new logo, tagline and colors, as well as how to use them. Please read this book before you use the new brand!
The files for our new logos are all available here.

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What’s next?

The new visual identity (logos, colors, typefaces and styling) is the foundation for the new MF brand. But hard work is ahead: we must now implement our new brand consistently and coherently, so we are recognized by our identity – whether in Chile, China or anywhere else in the world.

Over the next few months you’ll be seeing:

Campus recruitment teams implement the new MF brand right away – as on the BMS-MF website.
An updated look for our Facebook page and Melton News.
The new logo and a new Twitter handle @MFglobalcitizen in effect from March 1. (Please update your address books!)
Many more changes big and small, culminating in a new website and the unveiling of the brand at the GCC in August 2013.

In the meantime, we want to hear your ideas for where and how the new branding should be seen and experienced. Email Bix at bgabriel-at-meltonfoundation-dot-org with comments, questions and suggestions.