The Strategy Behind a Successful Organizational Rebrand

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Interior Indigenous Community Futures

After more than 35 years of serving Indigenous entrepreneurs and communities, Community Futures Development Corporation of Central Interior First Nations reached an important milestone. The organization has evolved, and its services have expanded. Its impact extended beyond what its original name communicated.

That evolution led to the launch of Interior Indigenous Community Futures (IICF), a new name, brand identity, and website that better reflect the organization it has become and the future it is helping build. Our team was honoured to work alongside the IICF team throughout this transformation.

A Rebrand Starts with Strategy

Many think a rebrand begins with designing a new logo, when it actually begins with asking much bigger questions:

·      Who are we today, and how have we evolved?

·      What do we want people to understand about our organization five or ten years from now?

·      How can our name, brand, and messaging better reflect the work we do and the communities we serve?

These conversations formed the foundation of the project, and our role was to help ensure every element of the rebrand aligned with IICF's vision, history, and future direction.

Details Matter

A successful rebrand requires careful planning across every touchpoint, and for IICF, that included:

·      A kickoff meeting with the IICF team to ensure our Amplify team was on the same page

·      Strategic messaging and brand positioning

·      Website planning and content development

·      Launch strategy and communications planning

·      Press release development, media relations and stakeholder communications

·      Social media rollout and brand consistency across materials

·      Supporting the transition from the previous identity to the new one

Behind the scenes, every decision was made to ensure existing partners continued to recognize the trusted organization they had worked with for decades, while introducing a brand and communications that better reflected the organization’s services and opportunities.

Honouring the Past While Looking Forward

I think for our team, one of the most rewarding aspects of this project was helping tell the story behind the growth! The organization continues the legacy built over more than three decades while recognizing that the organization has grown to support much more than business financing.

Today, IICF works alongside Indigenous entrepreneurs and communities through business development, youth entrepreneurship, regional economic development, food sovereignty initiatives, emergency management support, financial literacy, community resiliency programs, and many other initiatives that contribute to thriving Indigenous economies. The new identity reflects both that growth and the organization's long-term vision, which is to be a leading Indigenous organization in community economic development.

As George Casimir, IICF’s Executive Director, shared during the launch: "We are so excited to share our new name and brand. We believe it represents who we are today, built on the foundation of our past, and where we are headed as an organization in the future."

That sentiment was what guided us all through the project.

Communications That Build Confidence

One of the most important parts of any organizational rebrand is maintaining trust and reputation built over time, and people naturally ask questions when there is a change, such as if the leadership has changed or if the services will change. Our communications focused on answering those questions proactively.

By developing clear messaging, a coordinated launch plan, media outreach, and consistent communications across every platform, we wanted to ensure the transition was intentional, transparent, and exciting for partners, communities, clients, and stakeholders.

Congratulations to George Casimir, the Board of Directors, and the entire IICF team on this exciting new chapter. We are grateful to have been part of the journey and look forward to seeing the continued impact IICF will have in supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities across British Columbia's Interior for many generations to come.

We invite you to read the Logo Story to learn about the inspiration for the visual that came from Kenthen Thomas, Secwepemc storyteller.