Beginning with a brand audit and conversations with stakeholders, we were able to break Salesforce.org's market challenge down into three primary areas: 1) an influx of new products and features being added to the Salesforce platform and suite of products; 2) an inconsistent brand narrative, nominally related to its corporate parent; and 3) a highly fragmented audience across the social good sector.
In this, they saw an opportunity to deliver a unified, cross-cloud narrative that demonstrates how Salesforce.org brings business, education, and nonprofit industries together through technology to supercharge humanity’s progress toward a sustainable future.
Research into Salesforce.org's audience indicated that the primary aspect unifying this highly diverse group was that they’re all quintessential Trailblazers: change agents looking to accelerate impact against their mission through modern technology and supportive community.
We also made an assumption that our current customers are a representative sample of the entire social good population that’s interested in technology as a pathway to success, and that the sensibilities and motivations that drive our current customers mirror that of prospective customers.
From that, we articulated Salesforce.org's communication framework:
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Think: Salesforce.org is supporting the entire social good sector through innovative new product development, forward-thinking advocacy, and community-building emphasis.
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Feel: Energized to explore new ways of achieving my organization’s goals through technology and community.
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Do: Engage more deeply with the Salesforce community and product ecosystem.
Ultimately leading to the brand message:
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Salesforce.org empowers our community through technology to accelerate humanity’s progress toward a sustainable future.
INSIGHT
The inflection between Salesforce.com and Salesforce.org is the spoken “dot.” While paying homage to the vision and values of the parent brand, we saw an opportunity to create space for its social good-oriented business unit by exploring the “dot” in .org.
The “dot” brand symbol took the form of a circle. Circles. Dots. .org. In addition to giving a nod to its technological roots, the shape emphasized .org’s idealist outlook through its association with a human-centered approach to societal wholeness.
The system was put into motion by employing circles as a layering device. This approach gave us a means to reveal more to the story, just as Salesforce technology reveals deeper insight to customers.
To humanize the work, we elevated candid customer photography, and sought to capture the teamwork necessary when building a better world.
Integrated typography, where data emerges from context and provides deeper meaning, rounded out the system.
DESIGN SYSTEM
Salesforce.org pursued a phased approach to implementing its new brand identity, starting first with its #BeyondProfit social campaign. This campaign accompanied a targeted cross-sell call-down activation across 4 countries, culminating in a single-run in-person marketing event, held in London and Amsterdam.
Salesforce.org partnered with Bonfire Labs and Advocate Creative to produce production assets and a corresponding cross-channel distribution strategy, inclusive of a marquee Anthem Customer Film, customer photography, branded Social engagement posts, and a variety of other elements associated with the event.
BRAND CAMPAIGN
RESULT
The 86-page Trailblazer Media Content & Creative Guidelines, developed and produced in partnership with Bonfire Labs, formed the basis of Salesforce.org's Brand Identity in the lead-up to and through the COVID-19 pandemic. This flexible, efficient system for communicating Salesforce.org's corporate narrative tapped into cultural motivators within the social good sector, engaging both current and prospective customers in ways that brought them closer to the Salesforce.org brand and drove action around its core products.
These guidelines gave Salesforce.org the focus and trajectory to build an identity tuned to its specific audience -- one that emphasized our common goal of building a better world together. The result: Salesforce.org increased Market Share among nonprofits, educational institutions, and corporate philanthropy departments, growing ACV and delivering more Impact on its mission.
SYNOPSIS
Salesforce.org sells products relevant to nonprofit organizations’, educational institutions’, and corporate philanthropy departments’ operational efficiency -- be it to provide better student or care services, raise more funds, or engage supporters more deeply.
And while customers were succeeding with Salesforce.org products, many in the sector were vocally detrimental toward the company; they focused more on the Big Tech “Salesforce” part, and not so much the Good Guy “.org” part. Alas, hell hath no fury like an activist on the march.
This sentiment undermined Salesforce’s No. 1 CRM position in the market, as while a message anchored in digital transformation was highly resonant, Salesforce.org’s competitors all-too-often reaped the benefits. In 2019, Salesforce.org sought to revamp its brand identity with this challenge in mind.
CREDITS
Salesforce.org Marketing
Henk Campher -
Head of Marketing
Brandon Ortiz -
Senior Director, Brand
Devi Thomas -
Senior Director, Comms
Bonfire Labs
Chris Weldon -
Parnter, Strategy & Creative
Mary Mathaisell -
Partner, Content & Production
Jaime Flynn -
Creative Lead
Kevin Oberbauer -
Brand Strategist
CLIENT
Salesforce
ROLE
Executive Producer
Content Lead
Strategy Director