Campaign: Picture the Future: Building a New Peel Board Brand - Internal Launch Kit
Winner: Peel District School Board
The Peel District School Board had a new logo, and it was proud of it. When the Director of Education unveiled the new brand to senior administration in August 2005, he
emphasized the need to standardize its use and appearance across the system. So the Board created a mini-launch kit to distribute the new logo.
The goals were to provide a brief, easy-to-use presentation for principals and vice principals to use at their first staff meetings of the year; to ensure that at least
50% of principals used the launch kit; to communicate the reasons behind the new Peel brand to school staff; and to generate excitement about the new brand and make sure it
was used.
Extensive research went into the creation of the logo, which everyone agreed should be fun, youthful and modern, as well as bold, simple and timeless.
The launch kit featured an introductory video for the logo, a backgrounder to use as a speaking reference and a print launch mailer. The video was set to upbeat music
and included photos of Peel board students and activities, as well as the guiding vision words, dispersed throughout the video. The print launch mailer acted as a visual
aid to interpret the new logo, from its guiding principals to the specific aspects of the branding. As each layer of the mailing - which started small but unfolded to
poster size - was unfolded, a new layer of survey results was reinforced.
The results surpassed expectations. Approximately 67% of principals showed the video to their staffs and introduced the new logo, and word-of-mouth responses were
impressive. The Board was flooded with positive e-mail messages, and orders began to come in for specialty items with the new logo, from pins to pens.
Honorable Mentions
Christiana Care Health System decided in 2005 that it would be inconsistent for a health care provider to continue to tolerate smoking anywhere on its campuses. That was
the easy part. The hard part was letting its employees know and getting them to buy into it. Fearing that a small group would oppose the move despite overwhelming support
for it, the organization distributed information, offered convenient, free smoking cessation classes, and monitored employee feedback. Posters and tent cards promoted
awareness, e-mail messages and staff meetings kept the messages flowing, and interactive educational displays were created every month. To date, employees are fully on
board.
Oregon State University's traditional University Day Celebration was fading out in popularity due to a lack of focus, so the PR team took matters into their own hands,
injecting the fall kick-off event with new energy. A solid employee communications strategy that brought university representatives together from all areas - athletics,
marching band, key faculty - jump-started attendance from a couple hundred to nearly 1,000, thereby breathing new life into a long-standing annual community event.