UNV brand communications A guide to our new approach May 2009.
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Transcript of UNV brand communications A guide to our new approach May 2009.
UNV brand communications
A guide to our new approach
May 2009
Things to consider
- What are brands?
- What makes them special?
- Why is it important to UNV?
- Why now?
- The new approach at UNV
Things to practice & discuss
- What is the UNV brand?
- The UNV ‘elevator pitch’ – what is yours?
- The UNV ‘boilerplate’ and how to use it
- Idea and difference: share your examples
What you receive
- EXPRESS:the UNV Brand Communications User Guide
- Access to materials online
- Access to the brand communications forum
- Helpdesk support
Part 1: About branding
What is a brand?
“the promise that captures and represents
what people can expect”
What is a brand?
“A statement about aspirations and even
beliefs. A source of identity.”
Will Hutton
Governor, London School of Economics
Famous brands
Why do brands matter?
“Living the brand makes work matter
and people feel like winners”
Why do brands matter?
“It can make or break a company or a career.”
Will Hutton
Governor, London School of Economics
Famous branding problems
• Swedish vacuum cleaner: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux”
• "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation“. In Chinese this became: "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave"
• ‘Polio’ laundry soap (Czechoslovakia)
• ‘Zit’ soft drink (Greece)
• ‘Life’ cigarettes (Mali)
• ‘Ayds’ anti-depressant drug (USA)
• In one sea port, freight handlers saw a new sticker onsome boxes. It means ‘fragile’, but they hadn’t been told.They thought it meant ‘broken items inside’ and threw them away! (new ideas need to be explained)
Personal brand problems
Gerald Ratner owned a highly successful chain of jewelry stores in Great Britain.
But he told a business lunch that his goods were “crap”
People stopped buying and he went broke!
Lessons:
• Be consistent in what you say, and how you say it
• Your brand relies on people’s trust
Personal brand problems
Lawrence Summers, Former World Bank Chief Economist, was President of Harvard University when he said in a speech:
‘women don’t succeed in math and science because of genetics’
Donors stopped sending money.
He lost his job and damaged the University’s reputation
Lessons:
• Everything you say has an impact
• What you say should reflect our core beliefs
Corporate branding problems
UNICEF (Germany) launched a campaign to raise money for children’s education in Africa.
It wanted to show that all children are the same, regardless of colour.
But the pictures reminded people outside Germany about bad race relations.
UNICEF headquarters had not been informed. The local branding did not match their international brand image.
UNICEF Germany had to remove the adverts and apologize.
UNICEF lost some support internationally.
Ways we communicate the UNV brand
1. Talking about UNV, our work, volunteerism for peace and development
2. Meetings with UN, volunteers, governments, NGOs, donors, beneficiaries, media…
3. Writing reports, email, presentations, newsletters, vacancy announcements
Part 2: How we got here
Why UNV brand review was needed
• Expanding UNV mandate
• Business strategy (advocacy, integration, mobilization) needs to be clarified, implemented
• Operations growing, diversifying
= need for clarity, consistency
How the review worked
• UNV hired expert consultants
• All major UNV stakeholders were surveyed
• Consultants made proposals
• Project board (Core Management Team and Head, Communications) responded to proposals
• Planned solution was tested on stakeholders
• Solution was finalized and announced!
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Stakeholder perception surveys and interviews
I. Online survey Sent Completed Response rate
A) UN Agencies/Partners (includes UNDP CO) 39 13 33.3%
B) Non-UN Partners (includes roster of potential UNV volunteers) 40 27 68.0%
C) UNV volunteers (includes currently serving + former) 51 41 80.4%
D) POs and HQ 50 31 62.0%
Total 180 112 62%
II. Interviews
Internal
External
18 (Senior Management Team members)
7 x UN partners (UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, DPKO, EAD, UNDP)
3 x donors (Ireland, Japan, Germany)
2x G77 (programme Countries)
1 x civil society (Forum/IVCO)
Some key perceptions about UNV
1. UNV is primarily a supplier of volunteers ..……………..……..(ALL)
2. In future a wider role : A.I.M ………………. (UNV volunteers, PO’s, HQ)
3. Partners satisfied with collaboration…………..……..…….. (All partners)
4. Volunteers’ performance & value for money main motivators.. (ALL)
5. UNV is ‘practical’ , ‘flexible’ , ‘dynamic’ ……….……..(mostly internal)
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Key reflections on stakeholder feedback from a branding perspective
– The organization is performing well and meeting partners’ expectations
– Lots of view points and messages (perhaps too many messages)
– Very broad messaging invites interpretation, e.g. governance connotations, G77 viewpoint
– Disconnect between organization at HQ level and service in the field
– Reluctance to communicate impact on the ground
Conclusions:
Danger of being too “fluffy”
Need for clarity
Performance
Culture
Messaging
Values based
Universal
Special interest
Skills based
Volunteerism brandsWhere does UNV fit?… can you guess?!
Values based
Universal
Special interest
Skills based
In the middle!UNV wanted to remain here,- expressing values, - demonstrating results.How could it do so, effectively?
Values based
Universal
Skills based
Scenario 1focus on advocacy
world’s advocate of volunteerism, challenges people to contribute
‘Volunteering for humanity’
Scenario 2focus on mobilization
efficient volunteer organization, making a real impact
‘Development and peace. Delivered.’
Special interest
Optionsfrom the consultants
Values based
Universal
Skills based
‘inspiration’ ‘action’
Special interest
Solutionagreed by UNV
‘Inspiration’ expresses UNV’s values and ideas
‘Action’ expresses UNV’s activities and results
So we get…
Part 3: Our inspiration
WE BELIEVE... VOLUNTEERISM CAN TRANSFORM THE PACE AND NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT
THAT’S A POWERFUL IDEA
IMAGINE… OVER 6 BILLION PEOPLE CONTRIBUTING THEIR TIME AND ENERGY TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE
DELIVERING ON THAT POTENTIAL IS OUR MISSION
THAT’S WHY EVERY ACTION WE TAKE AS AN ORGANIZATION HAS TO BE AMBITIOUS IT HAS TO LIVE UP TO OUR BIG IDEA
OUR ACTIONS SAY A LOT ADVOCATING FOR VOLUNTEERISM,ENCOURAGING PARTNERS TO INTEGRATE VOLUNTEERISM INTO DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING, AND MOBILIZING VOLUNTEERS
IF OUR PARTNERS SEE VOLUNTEERISM AS A CORNERSTONE OF THEIR PROGRAMMES, WE CAN ADDRESS DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES TOGETHER
PARTNERS INSPIRED BY THE
POTENTIAL OF VOLUNTEERISM,
THE ACTIONS OF VOLUNTEERS,
AND THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF UNVWILL HELP US TO GROW AND EXPAND VOLUNTEERISM
OUR ORGANIZATION’S PROMISE IS THAT
THE DIFFERENCE WE MAKE IS INSPIRED BY THE IDEA WE EMBRACE
WE ARE INSPIRATION IN ACTION
EMBRACE THIS IDEALIVE IT EVERY DAY IN UNV
TOGETHER, WE AREMAKING A DIFFERENCE
Part 4: Guidelines
EXPRESS
Contents
Tagline
Tone of voice
Idea + Difference
Boilerplate text
Elevator Pitch
Definition of ‘volunteerism for development’
Tone of voice
Confident
Clear
Inclusive
Genuine
Idea + difference
1. First step: think about the key ‘idea’ you want to convey. Make sure it appears within your communication
2. Second step: demonstrate the ‘difference’ Explain how UNV can help, and the results it can produce.e.g. the results produced by UNV as an organization, UNV staff, UNV volunteers, volunteers in general.
Note: the annual report in written in this style. The idea does not have to come first!
Idea + difference Example
[idea]
‘Volunteerism can help communities achieve the Millennium
Development Goals’
[difference]
‘In India, UNV and the publisher Times of India launched the
“Teach India” campaign, which mobilized 50,000 volunteer
teachers in one month, significantly contributing to
children’s literacy and education (MDG 2).’
Boilerplate text
Boilerplate text
Standardized text
Always in documents
Never edited!
You can add to it
The term comes from hot water boilers which have a standard ‘plate’ of information for safety reasons
Boilerplate text Exercise
Describe our organization, our work, and our contribution
Write 50 words in 5 minutes
Pass your text to the person to your left- Did your neighbour write the same thing?- Was it better (or worse!)?- Do you have the same elements as the UNV boilerplate?
Boilerplate (short) key elements
‘The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development, and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.’
Elevator Pitch
Elevator pitch
A short introduction (long enough for an ‘elevator’ ride) e.g. 30 seconds long
It starts a conversation
- Introduces UNV
- our aims, activities
- you and your role
Notes:
Make it your pitch. Use your own words.
Believe in it. Be confident, genuine
(remember the UNV tone of voice)
Elevator pitch – an example
United Nations Volunteers contributes to peace and development through volunteerism.
We do this by: - advocating for recognition of volunteerism, - encouraging others to integrate volunteerism into their development programming, - and mobilizing people to volunteer for peace and development worldwide.
“
”
Elevator pitch - Exercise
Choose a partner (or two)
Ride in an elevator(or find a quiet corner)
Practice delivering your ‘pitch’
Think about: different types of people you meet (UN, volunteers, NGO, etc.)
Discuss with colleagues
Practice!
Part 5: Support
Implementation – how to get helpwww.unv.org/branding/tools
Materials are on the UNV website where all staff and UNV volunteers can reach them:
- EXPRESS (English, French, Spanish)
- Emblems with taglines (6 UN languages)
- Training material (this slideshow)
- Other support materials you request
These materials are also on the UNV Knowledge Platform
Let us know if you want more!
UNV branding forum http://branding.UNV.org
Go here to share:
Questions
Suggestions
Examples
Ideas
Contacts
Brand questions: [email protected]
Helpdesk: Tomas Matraia (+49-228) 815 2222
Communications Unit: [email protected]
UNV Communications Toolkit
Toolkit includes…
How to use the UNV emblem
Terminology: Do’s and Don’t’s
Document layout; specifications
Photography
Dealing with the media, etc.
Using the UNV emblemPlease use the emblem with the new tagline, wherever possible. The ‘plain’ emblem is still valid (e.g. for official signage)‘Full width’ versions are also available (as in this presentation, above)
New!
Terminology – do’s and don’ts
DOUNV volunteersinternational UNV volunteers
Volunteerism for development
…the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme
…the UNV Online Volunteering service …
DON’TUNVsIUNVs, NUNVs
V4D
…the United Nations Volunteers Programme
…the Online Volunteering Service…
For more, see the UNV Communications Toolkit (in English, French and Spanish)