Land Bank Authority Brand Audit & Assessment

Land Bank Authority Brand Audit & Assessment

NOTICE: Proprietary and Confidential This material is proprietary to The Fulton County City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority. It contains trade secrets and confidential information which is solely the property of The Fulton County City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority. his material is solely for internal use. This material shall not be used, reproduced, copied, disclosed, transmitted, in whole or in part, without the express consent of The Fulton County City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority. Brand Audit & Assessment August 2020

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Table of Contents

1. Terms ............................................................................................................3 2. Brand Audit ..................................................................................................5 3. Brand Assessment ......................................................................................8 4. Brand Recommendations .........................................................................11

PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL

Terms

Brand

A person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization.

Brand Assessment

An analysis of a brand’s strengths and weaknesses across all of its brand assets. The purpose is to identify brand gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities.

Brand Asset

Any aspect of a brand that has strategic value (logos, fonts, colors, graphics and visuals, photography, messaging, ads, print collateral, websites, social media accounts, promotional materials, style guides, brand guidelines, etc.)

Brand Audit

The gathering and reviewing of all brand assets for the purpose of understanding and determining a brand’s strengths and weaknesses.

Brand Gap

The underlying value proposition and promise conveyed and language used that makes people relate to a brand by inspiring them, persuading them, motivating them, and ultimately making them want to buy, use, or share a product or service.

Brand Guidelines

A set of rules that define how a brand works and how it should be used.

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Brand Message

The disconnect between business strategy and customer experience. It’s the difference between who you say you are and who your customer says you are.

Logo

A graphical mark used to identify a company, organization, product or brand.

Font (Typeface)

A design of lettering that can include variations.

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Brand Audit

In preparation of this brand audit, we gathered insights about FCCA Land Bank Authority’s brand and reviewed some of its past and present brand assets. The purpose was to get an understanding of how FCCA Land Bank Authority has positioned its brand, and to identify any brand gaps, inconsistencies, as well opportunities for improvement. This audit includes what we learned while reviewing 4 brand assets.

Logo

What meaning has been assigned to the logo? The meaning behind the current logo is that this land bank serves Fulton County and the City of Atlanta. Do any deviations appear in the usage of the logo? No. The logo is used correctly is every instance found in the brand assets used to audit the brand.

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Is the logo distinctive? No. The symbols for the logo are two prominent and well-known logos. The Fulton County logo used in the symbol is also outdated.

Stationery

34 Peachtree Street, Suite 2200 w Atlanta, GA 30303 w (404) 525-9336

Is the logo used on the stationery consistent with the brand identity? Yes. The logo's usage is consistent with the way it appears on the brand assets submitted for review. Are the colors used on the stationery consistent with the brand identity? No, and yes. The colors used for the stationery are not consistent because there are no colors assigned to the brand. On the other hand, the stationery and the website are the only areas that feature the same colors in their application.

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Are the fonts used on the stationery consistent with the brand identity? No. The fonts are mostly inconsistent.

Photography

Is the photography consistent with the brand identity? Yes. The photography is consistent, it represents the land bank’s ideas and purpose well. Is the photography of the highest quality? No. The photo quality is amateur. There is poor lighting, there is no editing, some of the images appear blurry and out of focus.

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Presentations

Is the logo used in the presentations consistent with the brand identity? No. The usage of the logo is not consistent; it appears any various sizes in multiple presentations. The logo is often scaled down to the extent that it hinders its legibility.

Is the presentation design consistent with the brand identity?

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No. Some presentations share the same template, but there is no consistent identity found in brand assets submitted for review.

Is the content in the presentations consistent with the brand message? Yes and no. While the presentations share a consistent brand message, tone, and style, there is currently no specific brand messaging for FCCA Land Bank Authority.

Press Releases

Does the press release consistent with the brand identity? No. The press release we received, does not resemble any of the other materials in any meaningful way

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Is the tone of voice in the press release consistent with the brand identity? Yes. The tone used in the press release is consistent with other marketing materials

Is the content in the press release consistent with the brand message? Yes. The press releases share a consistent brand message, tone and style.

Website

Is the website consistent with the brand identity? No, and yes. There is currently no brand identity, but the website does share colors with the stationery.

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Is the website consistent with the brand messaging? Yes and no. The website is consistent with any brand messaging that can be found in the brand assets. There is currently no recorded brand messaging for FCCA Land Bank Authority.

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Brand Assessment

This assessment analyzes 4 FCCA Land Bank Authority’s brand assets based on the strengths and weaknesses we identified. Along with the quality in which the asset is executed.

Brand Assets

Strengths

Weaknesses

Quality

The logo has no distinct characteristics.

Needs Improvement

Logo

The logo demonstrates a partnership with the city and County.

The logo isn’t visually interesting, but it does provide a lot of information about the organization.

It is the combination of two other logos. One of those logos being outdated. The arrangement of the symbols and font lack any understanding of design principles. The are no distinct colors, it appears in the black and white version everywhere. There is a white box in the background of the logo that isn’t a part of a design.

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Brand Assets

Strengths

Weaknesses

Quality

Needs Improvement

The angles of the photography.

Photography

The photography tells a story.

The photography could greatly benefit from some direction and style.

The photo quality.

The lighting.

The presentations have consistent brand voice.

Needs Improvement

Presentations

The presentations lack uniformity.

The presentations cement the voice of the brand but unfortunately fail to create any visual consistency

The logo isn’t legible on some of the presentation slides. The presentation features multiple different unknown fonts.

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Brand Assets

Strengths

Weaknesses

Quality

Moderate.

The press releases lack any brand identity.

Press Releases The press releases have consistent brand voice.

The press releases aren’t bad, could be improved with some focused visual styling and professional photography.

The photography quality could be improved.

Needs Improvement

The business card, letterhead, and envelope lack creativity.

Stationery

The stationery incorporates the logo.

The stationery isn’t of the best quality, but it does show some uniformity in its design.

The stationery shares the same color palette.

There is are unknown fonts used in the stationery.

The design is uniform across all the stationery brand assets that were submitted.

Nothing makes this stationery stand out.

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Brand Assets

Strengths

Weaknesses

Quality

The website has a consistent brand voice.

The website design is outdated and lacks creativity.

Needs Improvement

Website

The website is visually uninteresting.

The website shares the same color palette.

There are almost no pictures on website. The picture that appears in the banner is a generic Atlanta skyline that is too large for the container it sits in. That

The website does provide a wealth of information about the FCCA land bank authority.

The font appears to be the same throughout the website.

doesn’t provide much information about the organization.

The website is copy heavy. The front page features a big block of text, with information that should probably be reserved for an about page.

The layout on all of the pages are uninteresting.

The headings are not consistent from page to page.

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Brand Recommendations

After a full audit and assessment, we have discovered enough identifiable gaps, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies to recommend a complete rebrand of the FCCA Land Bank Authority regarding the four brand assets we audited and assessed. Below is a list of our recommendations. Brand Guidelines The first noticeable gap in the brand was the absence of any brand guidelines. Setting rules that define the brand's visual identity and how it should be used are essential in maintaining brand integrity. The guidelines should specify the following:

• Define how the logo should and shouldn’t be used. • Define the meaning of the logo.

• Define how the logo should be sized. • Define how the logo will be placed. • Define the brand color palette in RGB, CMYK, Hex and Pantone numbers. • Define the meaning and purpose of the brand colors. • Define what typography should be used for print and digital materials. • Define the brand messaging • Define the brand voice, style & tone. • Define what should be captured in photography. • Define how photography be edited. • Define how the brand will be represented in promotional materials. • Define who will need access to brand guidelines and where they will be stored.

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Logo • With the organization's name changing soon, a new logo is a must. • The logo should be a unique and memorable representation of what the brand stands for. • Think through the placement and arrangement of the logo. Where will people see it? How will it be positioned? • The logo should speak for the brand when there is no other information regarding the brand present. • Here are some examples of prominent well-designed land bank logos:

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Colors

• To develop a distinct personality for the brand, a color palette is a must. • Color allows us to gather information at a glance. • Choose colors that a representative of your core values, message, mission, and vision. • Optimize your brand personality by selecting no more than three primary colors. • Naturally the colors selected should be complementary. This makes any brand asset attractive and grabs the attention of the viewer. • Naturally, the colors selected should be complementary. Complementary colors make any brand asset attractive and grab the attention of the viewer. • The organization should also understand the meaning behind the colors, which can be found here. (http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html )

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Typography

• Typography could make or break a brand. It carries as much weight as the color palette. • The reason is that typography plays a vital role in setting the overall tone of the content and provides an attractive appearance for your reader. • Its best to select a primary font for title, headlines, etc. • Also select a secondary font for paragraphs, body text, etc. • San-Serif fonts (like the one used in this document) maintain their legibility better than Serif fonts (such as times new roman ). • We recommend a modern non-decorative font for the logo, secondary and primary font.

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Photography • Our recommendations for photography are to capture properties in the state they are in when they enter the land bank—showing the decay, dilapidation, and disarray compared to their eventual rejuvenation. • Capture the process of rejuvenating the properties long with candid moments of the reconstruction. • Look for moments that show the brand's core values, mission, and vision to capture.

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Promotional Materials Another large gap in the brand is the lack of promotional material. Visually appealing promotional content can capture the attention of your target audience and inform them of your cause. It should be representative of your brand message, mission, and vision. Your brand guidelines will guide the creation of the layouts and templates for promotional material. • Create templates that are creative and can be used to promote the brand. • Reduce the number of design elements and text used in promotional materials to clear and concise your message. • Below, you can find just a few examples of promotional material done well. Some specifically for land banks..

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Stationery Stationery allows your organization to cement its brand identity by creating official documentation using it. It gives the person who sees it as a peek into your brand. Since it is a tangible item, a lot of care should be taken to find the right look and feel. These items represent your brand in a physical space. They should include your logo, colors, and fonts to distinguish them from others. • Develop stationery that creatively reflects the brand and standouts. • Letterhead, business cards, envelopes, notepads, pens, etc. should share a consistent visual language. • The brand guidelines will provide the context for how the stationery should be designed. • Below are some examples of very well executed stationery:

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Presentations Presentations are used to inform and educate audiences about your organization and its programs. Your brand identity must shine through in the presentation template and the design. Referring to the brand guidelines will allow you to remain loyal to the brand while creating presentations. • Create a PowerPoint presentation template using the fonts and colors from the brand guidelines. • Below are some examples of some excellent presentations:

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Social Media It is difficult for an organization to thrive with broad sweeping target consumers without a social media presence. Social media allows your organization to get even closer to its target audience and engage them to gather insights on how to market to them more effectively.

• Create a social media marketing strategy.

Identify your target audience.

•

• Research what platform your target audience frequents (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) • Create content that engages your audience and inspires conversation amongst them.

Post content consistently

•

• Below are two examples of land banks (Tri-Cog Land Bank & Houston Land Bank) using social media to reach people:

Tri-Cog Land Bank

Houston Land Bank

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