YMCA

Project
Campaign launch

Media
broadcast, print, outdoor, website

Description

Unifying visual identity, slogan and brand for the Louisville system.

The Client

The YMCA of Greater Louisville is an association of 10 facilities in and around the city, with a history that reaches back over 100 years.

The Challenge

It was the very breadth of the YMCA's member offerings — which range from workout facilities to day care, youth and teen programs, camps and wellness programs — which led to the dilution of its brand over the last decade. The YMCA's need: to refresh and unify that brand in anticipation of a post-holiday member recruiting push.

The Solution

Since individual testimony is undeniably powerful, especially for a community-oriented brand like the YMCA, a campaign based on member success stories was created under the banner slogan "It's My Y". Interviews with dozens of members (selected from hundreds of volunteer applicants) were edited into a campaign of unusual honesty and intimacy. It launched on the day after Christmas 2008, over a full range of media including broadcast, print, outdoor and the internet.

The Results

So far, the brand new "It's My Y" slogan and accompanying visual identity have been readily adopted across the Louisville system, unifying the brand for the first time in years. The look and feel will serve as a foundation for all their future marketing efforts.