Team Rubicon’s branding harbors profound emotional significance to its members; these men and women not only wear it on their backs but also get it tattooed. When a volunteer receives their first grey shirt, there’s no understating the weight of that moment. The shirts carry the dual purpose of functionality in the field and direct brand interaction when volunteers write their name on the nameplate. To match the dynamic array of content volunteers would often create, we created a design system that unifies common brand elements. Branding then became a better platform to enforce brand standards and enhance messaging.

Buy-in was essential for Team Rubicon’s audience and we decided that branding hammering was over. We would positively motivate our audience to participate in what we had created. In doing so, we discovered they were eager to participate and enforced brand standards amongst themselves. We included imagery of influential volunteers and relied on the permanent nature of print (not to mention the book is huge). In addition to happy volunteers, partner organizations became more motivated to work with our internal teams.

Team Rubicon is unique in that significant campaigns are never fully mapped out beforehand. When disaster strikes, marketing teams are ready and waiting with a fluid approach that tailors creative to individual social channels for highly engaging content. Defined brand pillars and audience segmentation provide a barometer of success and a defined target to generate funding and recruit more boots on the ground.

Patches, collaborations, challenge coins, and tools in the field. The product we create builds trust, loyalty, and expands the brand.