There are many journeys in life, but none quite like a rebrand journey.
Over the last four years Volunteer Alberta, our staff and board have been on the long and winding rebrand-road with our 25 year-old organization. Typically a rebrand adventure like ours can take between 3-5 years from start to finish. And there are times it will seem like you aren’t moving at all, while others times it can feel like you are on a runaway train.
For us, our rebrand is more than changing our visual identity. It’s about changing the way we work, the way we talk about ourselves, and the way others interact with us. The organizations and people we serve are important to us. To get to where we are today we included the people we work with because we know we’re all in this together; serving the common good in Alberta and working toward connected, engaged and vibrant communities.
First, let’s take a step backward to 2010, when board and staff created new mission and vision statements, and the idea of a rebrand was first introduced. We understood that VA had grown to be more than our original purpose and, to stay relevant, we needed to adapt and change.
Not an easy place to arrive at, but a necessary one.
We listened to our stakeholders, surveyed members and engaged in lots of conversations. We conducted a communications audit of our internal and external communications to see what was working and what needed changing.
Recommendations we heard were:
- improve our website (which we’re working on this summer)
- refresh our visual identity (which we launched at our AGM at Vitalize in June)
- we needed to tell our story better, to clarify our what, how and why.
In 2013 we created the opportunity to change our thinking with Unstoppable Conversations. We adopted ‘new’ thinking and the Board set new strategic directions. We started focusing on network stewardship and workforce development.
By the beginning of 2014 we implemented our rebrand strategy and really started moving! In the fall we brought in The Met Agency who guided us through visual identity and brand story processes. The pace continued to pick up. The staff did a lot of internal work, diving deep into our ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘why’; seeking to better understand our members, methods, and messages.
We actually started to look and feel different by the spring of 2015. We moved to our new headquarters at the Empire Building on Jasper Ave, our brand story and new visual identity came together and we began implementing a new operational approach which we hope will really transform the way we serve Alberta.
Our journey certainly took us down a winding road, which is why we are so excited to reveal our new visual identity! This is Volunteer Alberta, refreshed!
Our vision for a strong, engaged and connected society serving the common good in Alberta is being reflected like never before, and we couldn’t be more delighted. We invite you to share your opinions and let us know what you think in this short survey.
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog featuring our Brand Story.
Katherine Topolniski and Jennifer Esler
Volunteer Alberta