Challenge
The Daughters of the American Revolution came to Sutter Group looking for their first formal branding. When we met with executives, the DAR was using a clip art logo of an American flag that had been in use since 2002.
The logo had been customized by many of the international, state, and local chapters. Colors were not consistent, nor was the size. The DAR’s various in-house divisions were also making their own logos.
The incoming president had also decided to take rebranding in the larger sense of the word. She wanted to get all of DAR’s chapters on the same page regarding DAR history, mission and vision, and brand language.
A very real part of the challenge was not only making changes that many members might resist but also making the changes easy to understand and implement among 3,000+ chapters worldwide.
Solution
Sutter Group approached the design portion of the rebranding by presenting three groups of logos: refreshes of the current logo, brand new designs using the American flag, and radically different, yet patriotic, designs.
After executive review, it became clear that the membership at large would be most comfortable with a refresh, a smarter version of their American flag.
In refreshing the DAR logo, we chose to honor the character and style of the 2002 logo, while giving it an updated, contemporary look and feel to enhance its versatility. The new logo reinforces DAR as a relevant, vibrant organization, while still allowing the DAR to be easily identified.
The updated star and stripes image symbolizes the waving American flag, advancing our overarching foundation as a patriotic organization. The three stripes represent the DAR’s three founding principles: historic preservation, education, and patriotism.
The strength of the refreshed logo is its versatility. It can be used horizontally as well as vertically and there are several slight variations that allow for the logomark to be used on its own as well as with the full name of the organization.
Branding also included a mission and vision statement that allowed all chapters to be on the same page, as well as a history of the organization, brand language, and some “dos and don’ts.”
We kept the language of the content branding light. It was important not to have a heavy hand here, but some clear reasons why being consistent would help the DAR brand within each community.
