Mark Bevington is founder and president of Ninedot, a design agency in Providence with clients including FM Global, Roger Williams University, and Heinz. He talked with Providence Business News recently about redefining branding and the growing importance of Web 2.0 tools in marketing.
PBN: You describe Ninedot’s approach to advertising as “purpose-based branding.” Could you explain what that is?
BEVINGTON: At Ninedot our purpose is to do whatever it takes to build our clients’ business to help them fulfill their purpose. Although we are a full-service design agency, our work goes beyond just making ads or Web sites. We partner with our clients to create and find something that’s better. We call that “better thinking.” We encourage our clients to think strategically, to be visionary. Maybe the partners haven’t had this discussion since they opened their doors. It may be time to revisit their core purpose, their mission statement before we talk about branding.
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Branding and marketing in general is in need of a major overhaul, and when trust in brands is at an all-time low, it’s time to redefine how we are selling ourselves.
Marketing value and purpose-based branding are not mutually exclusive but can go hand in hand to communicate value and build emotional equity at the same time.
Consumers, primarily during a recession, want more. The race of having material things isn’t proving as fulfilling for people as it used to be.
PBN: Could you give an example of purpose-based branding?
BEVINGTON: Progreso Latino hired Ninedot as their first agency of record last June. Instead of going into the first creative meeting wondering if we were working on a brochure or Web site, we helped redefine Progreso’s higher purpose: empowering Rhode Island’s Latino communities, rather than becoming another social services agency.
To drill home that message Ninedot toured Central Falls asking members of the community what Progreso Latino has done for them in their lives and how they felt empowered. Ninedot also did research on how the generational shifts in the Latino communities are now demanding different kinds of services and ways of accessing them.
This purpose-based approach has helped our creative designs for both print, advertising and Progreso’s new social media-rich Web site, giving the empowerment back to the people it serves. This is a socially responsible approach to working with clients. It is inclusive and is reflective of the community it serves.
Progreso has been a part of this Ocean State for 32 years and just now are they really seeing their brand win market share. Ninedot believes there are several reasons for this. The repositioning helped inspire internal employees. It built trust and emotional connection to the Latino communities. And, it helped differentiate their brand from the other 3,500 nonprofits in the state.
PBN: What impact do you see the recession having on that type of advertising and branding?
BEVINGTON: We are busy — so I have to believe this kind of branding is working. You have to be collaborative; we are partnering with our clients. This is especially important in tough economic times.
PBN: Along with commercial clients, you’ve also done branding work for nonprofits such as Grace Episcopal Church. How do you approach branding for a nonprofit as opposed to a business?
BEVINGTON: Yes, we have done work for a number of nonprofits, including Progreso Latino, Grace Episcopal Church, Options for Working Families, and the International Charter School, among others.
Listen — everything gets branded, one way or another, whether it’s a consumer product, a movie star, a religion … even a nonprofit organization.
Unfortunately, many nonprofits are too quick to hand the organization’s brand over to an outside consultant and assume a reactive rather than proactive approach to the process. Worse than that, many consultants and design shops who work with nonprofits skip the development of the nonprofit’s core purpose altogether. How can you tell a story without knowing the characters, the history, where the story will lead? We discuss the evolution of their business; we all know nothing is static. To be relevant, change has to be part of the paradigm in today’s market.
In the end, there are four brand markers that we identify with nonprofits before developing a brand: Reputation (How well-known is your organization?); Esteem (How highly thought of is your organization?); Relevance (How important are your organization’s mission and activities to the concerns of your target audience?); and Differentiation (Are there other organizations out there that do what your organization does? Are you distinct enough from them?)
PBN: Your firm is also known for working with Web 2.0 technologies. How effective are these as marketing tools?
BEVINGTON: These tools are essential in building brands. Branding these days is about building a two-way relationship with consumers and your audience. A few rules to consider before diving into this awesome world of Web 2.0: 1) Don’t just talk to consumers — work with them throughout the marketing process. 2) Give your audience a reason to participate. 3) Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell. 4) Don’t control it; let it go.
