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!

19

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)

21

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: brandcommunications@unv.org

Helpdesk: Tomas Matraia (+49-228) 815 2222

Communications Unit: information@unv.org

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)