On May 28, 2019, Josh Miles and Lauren Waldron co-authored “Flipping The Script On Rebranding: How An Association Told Its Story,” which was published on AssociationSuccess.org. The following is an excerpt:
In the association space, we often think that advocacy means fundraising for the organization and lobbying to members of Congress on behalf of the organization’s and members’ mission. Advocacy can also mean telling your organization’s and members’ stories through branding and at the Society For Marketing Professional Services, that is exactly what we did. On behalf of our mission statement and members, we went through a two-year rebrand.
From the early days, SMPS sought to highlight the value that marketing and business development has brought to the architecture, engineering and construction industries on behalf of its members, and for 45 years, SMPS has been going against the grain to reinforce that design and construction are not just “design and construction.” We have been “flipping the script” on this perspective for a long time!
When we launched our new brand in 2018 at our annual conference, Build Business, we rolled out a newly redesigned website and affiliated sites, social media platforms, and videos. In addition, new SMPS logo swag was made available to conference attendees, with additional branded items that were soon available for purchase. Our brand launch at Build Business was only the beginning, and there is still much work to do to consistently align the brand with our strategic plan and business strategy.
Josh Miles serves as chief marketing officer for SMPS and Lauren Waldron serves as the associate marketing director for SMPS. Their contribution to AssociationSuccess.org, a hub for innovation in the association industry, helps readers think about ways to better tell the story of their organizations.
