City Square: A Branding Case Study

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.

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City Square: A Branding Case Study