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8/8/2019 City Square: A Branding Case Study
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Branding | A Comprehensive Background
By definition, branding is a combination of a name, term, symbol and
design used to identify the goods and/or services of a seller or group of sellers.
The purpose of branding is to set a company apart from its competition and to
make its intended public feel that the goods or services they seek coincide with
that company. A brand is also an individual consumers perception of his or her
relationship with a product or an organization (Guth, 411). Companies
understand that consumers have a choice when selecting goods and services,
and with so many new products and trends constantly bombarding todays
marketplace, it can be difficult to establish a loyal customer base. Because of
this reason, companies continually seek informationtheyre consistently
researching what exactly the public wants, why they want it, how these wants
are changing, and how to ensure that their products or services will be selected
from the seemingly never-ending mass of all else available.
Companies aim to market their brands as a social tool. They specifically
tailor a brands logo, font, design, spacing, color and symbols to represent their
brands vision and persona. For instance, Nikes consistent use of the swoosh
logo on all of its products has established the symbol as recognizable and
iconic. Nike is positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and
expensive products. Nike lures customers with a marketing strategy centering on
a brand image, which is attained by (their) distinctive logo and the advertising
slogan: Just do it. The company is also well-known because of their
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sponsorship agreements with famous athletes and professional and college level
sports teams. Andy Payne, creative director of Interbrand, expressed his opinion
on the brand to London-based newspaperThe Independent:
This is one of my favorite logos. It's one of the only logos without words
accompanying it. Over time it has gained equity and confidence to set
itself free from the word Nike and that is a very brave step for a brand to
take. Again it is a logo that can be seen in any color and you still
recognize it as Nike.
The public understands exactly what that the Nike swoosh is and means when
they see itno explanation is needed. Nikes logo represents athleticism,
endurance, speed and the never-ending human spiritit identifies with its
athletic consumer base, but also is indistinguishably recognizable and appeals
to consumers that feel they are part of a crowd when purchasing Nike products.
If the article of clothing was absent of the Nike swoosh, they may decide not to
buy the product simply because it lacks brand identification. The Nike shoe may
not be built any better than that crafted from another manufacturer, but
consumers recognize the brand easily and are willing to pay for it.
Starbucks Coffee offers a similar comparison in the science behind
branding. Industry analysts in 1998 saw Starbucks as being well on its way to
becoming the Nike or Coca-Cola of the specialty coffee segment. It was the
only company with anything close to national market coverage. Upon early
expansion, Starbucks immediate goal was to open 2,000 stores by the year
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2000. In the long run, though, the company wanted to become the most
recognized and respected brand of coffee in the worldone that many
marketing analysts argue is a goal that has seen an enormous amount of
success.
Starbucks established a well-known reputation early on in its startup,
largely earning recognition for its elaborate and creative coffee drinks. The first
Starbucks coffee shop was opened in 1971 by English teacher Jerry Baldwin,
history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker in Seattle, Washington.
What started as an idea among three young entrepreneurs rose to the giant
standing that the company now celebrates. Currently, Starbucks has 17,800
stores present in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, almost
800 in the UK, and nearly 1000 in Canada. Because of its success, the company
took off, forever embedding the Starbucks logo and name in all those anywhere
from Denton, Texas to Tokyo, Japan seeking a cup of coffee on the go.
Starbucks rose to the corporate leader that it is now today from spreading its
namethe company has bought out many of its competitors, such as the
Seattle Coffee Company and operates internationally despite even at a loss.
The single-most important factor that led to Starbucks triumphant rise has
been their successful saturation of the coffee market, though. The company is
well-known largely from clustering several of its coffee houses in small
geographic locations. Between 1992 and 1993, Starbucks developed a three-
year geographic expansion strategy that led to its market saturation success.
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For each targeted region, Starbucks selected a large city to serve as a hub;
teams of professionals were located in hub cities to support the goal of opening
20 or more stores in the hub in the first two years. Once stores blanketed the hub,
then additional stores were opened in smaller, surrounding spoke areas in the
region.
Starbucks coffee beans are said to be farm grown and of better quality
than its competitors, but most that buy a cup of coffee from this industry leader
do so because of convenience and its established reputation. Starbucks is
widely popular among caffeine connoisseurs not because it necessarily serves
the best medium or dark roast, but because of the companys success. The well-
known stature and cultural integration Starbucks holds translates directly to its
image and relationship with consumers. For instance, when a person is seen
holding a cup of Starbucks coffee, they appear more mainstream. The brown
and green logo on the sleeve on the hot cup makes a difference not only to the
consumer, but those around him or herthere is a clear and defined distinction
in terms of connotation and message between a Starbucks cup in comparison
to, for example, a cup of coffee purchased at a gas station. The underlying
product may be the same, achieve a similar goal and hold a price difference,
but a person will pay for the label and social recognition.
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Re-Branding | A Fresh Start
When a company begins to lose capital, a way to regain its footing is by
re-branding. Re-branding can increase the appeal of the products or goods to
the consumer or help its appeal in a new demographic. Rita Clifton and John
Simmons, authors of Brands and Branding, discuss what great brands share
universally. The authors argue a great brand holds 1) a compelling idea, 2) a
resolute core purpose and supporting values, 3) a central organizational
principle, 4) distinctive positioning and customer experience, 5) alignment of
internal and external commitment to the brand, and 6) an ability to stay
relevant.
Re-branding is a way for businesses and corporations to do a number of
things: it can reflect what the company is doing in a much more persuasive
manner; it can help a company continue to be successful by announcing their
success; and, it can also be a way for an old business to get a facelift and
reevaluate their brand or company, while focusing on all the good things it has
already done (Rebranding Strategies, 2010).
A company can rebrand itself many ways. Product re-branding is a
process that eliminates the original brand image, creating a new name and
identity for the product. This type of re-branding can also set new pricing for the
product. For instance, the Dexxa computer mice were re-branded as Logitech
devices and sold at lower prices. Re-branding in this manner reduces the
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amount of additional expense by combining two brands. Much of Microsofts
product line consists of rebranded software, including MS-DOS, FoxPro and Visio.
Also, the rebranded GeForce 8-series GPU into 9-series by nVidia is an example
of successful product re-branding (Banick, 2008).
Another way to execute product re-branding is to create a product
brand name, such as Disney, and generate an umbrella brand that adds the
brand name to many other products. This strategy allows each product to have
a unique brand name and the corporate name is not promoted to the
consumer (Schultz 2000).
Corporate branding is another way to re-brand a company. This method
evaluates each aspect of a companys corporate plan and can integrate
multiple touch points. These points can include: logo, customer service,
employee relations and training, packaging, advertising and most importantly
the quality of the products or services. All of these facets are important
because the consumers can evaluate the re-branding themselves and
ultimately affect perceptions of the company (Balmer, 2001). Yahoo! Widget,
formally Konfabulator, is an example of corporate re-branding. The program
originally had cost users to be installed onto a computer; however, when Yahoo!
Acquired Konfabulator in 2005, Yahoo! released it for free (Larsen, 2000). Kraft
Foods also participated in re-branding of its own, giving their logo a facelift
(Hartley, 2009). The new logo was said to show people around the world the
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new identity that deliciously features a smile... it signals to employees,
consumers, and investors what the new Kraft Foods is all about (Hartley, 2009).
Some corporations dont succeed in re-branding, though. For instance,
the British Post Offices attempt to rebrand itself first as Consignia plc., and then
second to Consignia Holdings plc., and then finally to Royal Mail Holding plc.,
cost the company millions of dollars (Hatfield, 2006).
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CitySquare | An Introduction
CitySquare is an organization based out of central Dallas that aims to
fight the root causes of poverty by partnering with those in need. Working
together as a community, [they] feed the hungry, heal the sick, house the
homeless and renew hope in the heart of our city.
CitySquare started in 1988 as Central Dallas Ministries. According to its
website, Central Dallas Ministries primarily functioned as a small food pantry and
was typically led by a group of four or five rotating men that shared a common
aspiration for providing aid to poverty-stricken local citizens in central Dallas. Its
initial organizers felt that Central Dallas Ministries was small-scale and needed
to expand to more aspects of helping those in poverty, Katie Goldberg, head
of the fundraising department of the organization, said. Central Dallas Ministries
then began to provide aid to not only those in starvation, but also those in need
of housing, medical attention and education, she further explained.
In an attempt to appeal to a wide range of publics, non-profit
organizations have opted to take new and challenging measures. Branding
plays a very vital role in the success of many non-profit organizations and only a
few become successful. Churches, charities and other groups that seek the
support of the community generally have an erroneous idea on how to brand
and market their message to the general public, causing confusion and
lowering the possibilities of growth within their own community.
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The Central Dallas Ministries identity was limiting the operatives of the company
in that it had preconceived notions attached to it, making it seem like the
company was solely geared towards faith-based services, Goldberg said. Even
though the former Central Dallas Ministries was created by CEO Larry James with
a faith-based foundation, sponsors and clients alike both had the limited
perceptions that the organization was only involved in religious aid. Central
Dallas Ministries helped to fight hunger, poverty and other social issues that
residents of North Texas face on a daily basis; but, since its inception, the
community has consistently perceived the organization incorrectly. Evangelistic
associations have always naturally been linked to the name despite the
organization not holding specific faith-based ties. The leaders and originators of
Central Dallas Ministries agreed that a new name was needed to encompass all
the services they provide, yet still maintain a somewhat religious-orientation.
Regardless of this fact and clearly-defined fault, Central Dallas Ministries was
carried for nearly 23 yearsuntil recently. Effective on October 25, 2010, the
non-profit transitioned to a new identity, CitySquare.
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CitySquare | Re-Branding Central Dallas Ministries
Being recognized as a church brought many limitations for expansion.
Central Dallas Ministries struggled daily with receiving the support of private and
public businesses and other humanitarian groups that fund charities. Faith-based
organizations have a strength-by-numbers advantagethey inherently can
receive support from those affiliated with their chosen religion. However, Central
Dallas Ministries held no universal religious views. Because of this, the
organization found it difficult to identify with religious individuals, but also
realized it was alienating persons interested in helping those less fortunate that
werent from religious backgrounds. For these reasons, the organization felt a
new identity was essential to expand toward its overall goals.
To solve their dilemma, Central Dallas Ministries partnered with Dallas-
based advertising agency The Richards Group. The company decided to
undergo a name change because The Richards Group approached the
organization, Goldberg said. They pursued us to re-evaluate our name and
approached Larry James, the CEO, about this. Both James and the organization
felt it was important to re-define the company name clearly, she said. Experts
from the company worked alongside board members from Central Dallas
Ministries, ultimately reaching the conclusion that the organization was in need
of a re-branding strategy to satisfy their goals. The two entities communicated
back and forth for nearly a year, conducting necessary research and
formulating an infallible strategy.
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With the organizations core values, objectives, purpose and vision in
mind, The Richards Group and Central Dallas Ministries aimed their focus on
crafting a catchy and urban name, but also one that is capable of relating not
only to the citizens of Dallas and had potential to expand to other areas. And
so, a new identity was bornCitySqure. As exemplified by Nike and Starbucks, a
recognizable and contagious personality is essential to establish a relationship
with consumers. What had burdened Central Dallas Ministries for so long finally
came to a halt, and a new identity with the potential to grow was born. We
discovered our brand personality, said Larry James, CEO of CitySquare,
compassionate, gritty and fiercely committed. James also mentioned in a
video press-release that CitySquare was chosen because it encompasses the
feelings that those in a city square communicate. Various aspects of urban life
and community are represented around the square: business, economic
power in banks, homes that are at the square, public schools, and so forth, he
said. Despite the faith-based confusion that the organization had struggled with
since its origins, James also mentioned that most of the events in the bible take
place in public squares and it has been that faith that has brought them to this
new challenging era.
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CitySquare | Looking Toward the Future
CitySquare can now populate that concept, that idea, that logo with
the meaning you know it has, James said in a video-press release, whereas
before, Central Dallas Ministries did not have the ability to come across as
unbiased in its providing of services. Based on the opinions of the hundreds of
volunteers that every year contribute to the success of the CitySquare vision, re-
branding Central Dallas Ministries has been one of the smartest moves that
organization has made in many years. Since its re-branding, CitySquare has also
proven itself worthy of surpassing beyond the faith-based burdenthe
organization now not only serves Dallas, but has expanded to San Antonio,
Austin and Oklahoma. Goldberg warns of being too hopeful early on, though,
saying the re-branding of the company is much too new to be able to re-
evaluate.
Along with the re-branding, Goldberg said it is necessary for the
organization to further advertise and market their new name. CitySquare must
now help sponsors and citizens of the region to further accept the abrupt
change in name without seeing a decline in the popularity of the organization.
It is important to keep in mind that re-branding may be necessary and if so,
publicizing the change and shedding light on the attributes of the name
change can be very beneficial to a company in ways that may help motivate
and encourage a physical expansion, ideas, diverse operatives, and far-
reaching effects on the public.
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Not only did Central Dallas Ministries name change to CitySquare, but
they also crafted a new logo. Made up of nine circles that make a square, the
illustration suggests unity and stability. With time and more community exposure,
residents in Dallas, San Antonia and Austin may begin to recognize the
CitySquare logo and identify with itthe ultimate goal that The Richards Group
presented in the beginning stages of the re-branding process. The name
change may also shed light on the issue of inner-city poverty and appeal to
more people that may want to directly or indirectly participate with the
organization.
In this case, CitySquare received a new name and logo, but not every
company undergoes such drastic change. Sometimes something as small as
updating the packaging, while still maintaining some of its original look for brand
recognition, of a product may be the change needed to have consumers pay
attention once again. Such was the case with Bausch + Lomb, Re-nu. Previously,
their contact solution packaging favored the competitors packaging on the
shelves. The white and blue box had a wave on it and was outdated. Marketing
experts within the company concluded that a re-branding was necessary so
that consumers would take a second look. Stephanie Hildebrandt, associate
editor of BRANDPACKAGING, an online magazine, explained the new design.
The new bottle provides a functional and convenient benefit to consumers,
allowing them to see when theyre running low on solution. The designers also
intended for it to be more aesthetically pleasing than the previous bottle, so, if
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consumers like, they can leave it out on their bathroom counters, said
Hildebrandt. The actual product inside of the bottle is the same, but the new
look of the outer packaging will remind the consumer that they are innovative
and committed to their brand. Such was also the case with CitySquare and their
fierce commitment to their cause.
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CitySquare | Re-Branding In Action
Following the advice of our counselors at The Richards Group, we organized a
PR stunt on Monday, October 25, the day of our public roll out for the new
brand. The exercise involved over 100 of our team gathering in Downtown
Dallas before 7:00 a.m. We then spread out with large square stencils and
sidewalk chalk in hand to about 100 locations plotted in the central business
district. We drew large squares on the sidewalks at strategic corners so that all of
the people walking to work would see our message. Inside the squares we
recorded a poverty fact about Dallas, Texas and/or the USA. Our action
created quite a stir! And, since they had been tipped off, lots of press showed
up to take photos and to capture video for TV news coverage. And, just for the
record, we had cleared our plans with the police department's Downtown unit!
Larry James, CEO CitySquare.
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Talking with Katie Goldberg | An Interview Transcript
Katie Goldberg, Head of Fundraising Dept, CitySquare.
(Via Telephone, November 28, 2010)
Q: My group and I recently researched your organization and that you had a re-
branding with a new name change. How new is it?
A: Well, our CEO, Larry James, decided he wanted to collaborate with The Richards
Group (further explained later)... around early to mid-summer but the re-branding did
not become official or available to the public until October 25th.
Q: Who decided to switch the company name from Central Dallas Ministries to
CitySquare? Was it a single-person effort or collaboration?
A: The Richards Group, a company that is involved in aiding others to expand their
business, pursued us to re-evaluate our name. They approached Larry James, the CEO,
about this and both James and the organization felt it was important to re-define the
company name clearly. James felt that the name change would more clearly depict
the efforts of the organization.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about how CitySquare, formerly Central Dallas Ministries,
got started?
A: Sure! Well it originated from a group of about four of five guys and started off as a
small food pantry in 1988. The same homeless people kept coming back to the pantry
over and over to receive aid. Numbers of homeless people continued to grow and the
guys decided to ask the stories of the homeless. They knew that their efforts were small-
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scale and needed to expand to more aspects of helping those in poverty. Thats how
Central Dallas Ministries came about.
Q: Why did your company feel that Central Dallas Ministries needed to be re-
evaluated?
A: Central Dallas Ministries has preconceived notions attached to it, making it seem like
the company was solely geared towards faith-based services. Now, CitySquare
encompasses the fact that we still are faith-based but that community as well as other
operative aspects we provide are represented as well.
Q: Where are your efforts exactly located? Where are the primary locations of doing
business?
A: We started out in Central Dallas but most of our program locations are now in East
Dallas and new programs are available in Austin and San Antonio.
Q: Has your company seen any effects from the re-branding such as expansion of
business, clients, sponsors, etc?
A: The re-branding of the company is much too new to be able to re-evaluate. The
name change also has not translated into any new programs or gained more sponsors,
although it may soon.
Q: Is there a method system or choosing to re-brand that your PR person could further
go into detail about?
A: No, we do not have an in-house PR person. We outsource much like what
happened with The Richards Group.
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Works Cited
CitySquare Online. Accessed November 11, 2010.
Clifton, R., & Simmons, J. What Great Brands Share, 66-71. Brands and Branding.
Princeton: Bloomberg Press, 2004.
Goldberg, Katie. (2010, November 28). Telephone Interview.
Guth, D. W., & Marsh, C. IMC and More, 411. 13.1. Public Relations A Values-Driven
Approach. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc, 2009.
Hartley, Gary. 15 Major Brands Rebrand. The Floating Frog. Accessed December1,
2010.
Hildebrandt, S. Brand Packaging. Brand Packaging Where Design and Strategy Meet.
Accessed November 30th,
2010.
James, L. CitySquare. Urban Daily Blog. Accessed November 9, 2010.
Klien, Naomi. Klein on how corporate branding has taken over America, The
Guardian, January 2010. Accessed November 31, 2010.
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< http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/16/naomi-klein-branding-obama-
america>
Nichols, Carl & Schley, Bill. Thoughts on Re-Branding, 101-107. Why Johnny Cant
Brand. New York: Portfolio Hardcover, 2005.
Rebranding Strategies, Proteus Marketing. Accessed November 20, 2010.