Asia Society Brand Strategy
Breathing new life into the brand of a respected international nonprofit with an ambitious mission
Context
The global advocacy and arts organization, Asia Society, was struggling to connect with its existing audience and grow its community. Their visual identity did not translate well to digital, a complex brand architecture made it hard to navigate the organization, and mixed messages diluted the power of the offerings.
Solution
My team and I developed a new brand strategy, visual identity, and verbal identity over the course of a nearly year-long engagement, helping Asia Society achieve its lofty mission of preventing World War III.
Outcome
The new brand identity was enthusiastically embraced by all 13 global centers on four continents, giving the global organization a new set of standards and a cohesive philosophy around which members and allies could rally.
Research Approach
Ongoing member lab
Collaborating with the global COO, I assembled a focus group of 17 Asia Society members from seven countries. Through candid discussions in a private Slack channel, the group painted a picture of the existing audience’s needs, wants, and frustrations.
Interviews
Over the nearly year-long engagement, I conducted 24 in-depth interviews with current and potential audience members, industry experts, and internal stakeholders. Interviews provided an opportunity to thoroughly dig in to each person’s story and expertise.
Stakeholder workshops
Hands-on workshops with the CEO and members of the executive leadership team formed the backbone of the brand development process, enabling me to quickly and efficiently understand the organization’s vision as well as build consensus around strategy along the way.
Desk research
Competitive and cultural desk research rounded out my approach, giving my team and I the opportunity to understand the nuance, history, and context of the international organization and its imperative.
A consistent brand builds trust. Trust builds love.
Verbal strategy refresh
A consistent and engaging brand voice is crucial for any brand, but it’s especially important for an organization dedicated to fostering cross-cultural communication. A fresh messaging framework, streamlined tone of voice, and easy-to-follow guidelines helped the organization shift into their new personality archetype and truly be the change they wanted to see in the world.
Visual identity refresh
Asia Society’s existing visual identity embodied many of the qualities of the new brand platform, but it needed to be refined for the digital age. My team polished their iconic leogryph, added flexible graphic elements, and refined the typography to be legible and modern without sacrificing the brand equity that had been built for over 60 years.
