Conveying Areas of Service

The organization focuses on conservation, education, activism, and eco-tourism. The site features current initiatives and invites site visitors to learn more. An RSS feed brings in news stories about the organizations so people can see how the organization is making an impact through its various programs.

Communicating Impact

The Society for the Protection of Nature In Israel has an impressive 70-year track record of results in protecting wildlife. A slider showcases recent accomplishments, while a vertical timeline presents seven decades of environmental wins to bolster the credibility of the organization.

Telling the Fundraising Story

To solicit support for the organization, we made a clear case in pages that describe the need and reasons to support Nature Israel. One page builds on the main message about how supporting Israel helps the world, while another page describes how the Middle East is warming at twice the global average and that Israel is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Engaging Website Visitors

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel conducts webinars every two weeks on a variety of environmental topics. The webinars are featured prominently on the site as a way to engage new donors.

Promoting Eco-Tourism

Travel to Israel is an important part of cultivating donors and a core part of the strategy. The trips are positioned as a different way to experience Israel — with access to special wildlife sites. We are promoting trips with web pages, brochures, and emails and encouraging registration and building a list of people interested in the trips.

Launching a New Financial Certification Company

A new financial service needed to assess its market, establish itself as a trusted brand, and attract both financial analysts and consumers. We analyzed their business challenges and developed their strategy, brand, marketing materials, and website for a national launch.

Services

• Market Viability
• Marketing Strategy
• Brand Strategy
• Messaging
• Visual Identity & Brand Guidelines
• Printed Materials for Analysts
• Consumer Brochures
• Customizable Print-On-Demand Materials
• Sales Presentations
• Consumer Video Series
• “Did You Know“ Video Series
• Integrated Website Strategy
• Website Copy, Design & Development for Consumer & Analyst Sites

A New Service for Seniors

Many people do not realize that they have options when collecting social security. Factors such as age, marital status, disability, and self-employment, among others, can affect the amount of money received. Registered Social Security Analyst (RSSA) created a certification program to train professionals to guide people in optimizing their benefits.

From Concept to a Thriving Business

Who would become an RSSA? How much would people pay for this service? Would people welcome entering this new profession? We conducted focus groups and research to ascertain the viability of this new financial service and how to attract professionals and clients. We helped RSSA define and launch the business model.

Crafting the Brand

RSSA needed a recognizable logo that would have the same respect as “CPA” or other financial certifications. Branded as a personalized service to optimize your Social Security benefits, we designed a logomark that could be used on everything, from business cards to marketing materials to stationery by professionals across the country.

Helping a research institute establish independence and engage researchers with a new brand and website.

Services

• Brand & Website Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Stakeholder Interviews
• Audience Needs Mapping
• Brand Positioning & Messaging
• Visual Identity Iconography
• Brand Style Guide
• Website User Experience
• Website Copywriting
• Website Design
• Website Development
• Registration System
• E-learning Integration
• Content Migration & Customization

Challenges

The organization needed to address the problems with its name and retain a sense of history while moving forward to appeal to donors and funders.

Discovery

We conducted a thorough Discovery process that was designed to help us uncover brand perceptions and communication issues:

• A Brand Audit that assessed all touchpoints with the public.
• A Competitive Review of other human services agencies to identify key differentiators.
• 25 Interviews with leadership, Board members, and donors.
• An Interactive Workshop with two dozen senior leaders to explore brand strengths.
• Five Focus Groups with different departments to understand their brand challenges.

Naming

The leadership, Brand Committee, and Board were engaged in a thorough process to develop and test a new name that would meet their needs around the theme of “Rise.”

After exploring more than 1,400 naming ideas, field testing for perceptions, and conducting legal vetting, the Brand Committee selected the name Rising Ground. This conveys how the organization helps people rise above adversity regardless of what they are facing. The tagline, ”Paths to positive change since 1831” amplifies the message and connects to their history.

Messaging

As part of the branding process, we updated the Mission and Vision Statements, Values, and other brand messaging.

Visual Identity

We created a new visual identity that is expressive, contemporary, and evokes the agency’s personality. The visual identity system consists of:

Website

We planned, wrote, designed, and developed a completely new website for the organization. We created a positive experience that showcases the agency’s mission of helping people rise above adversity.

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Brand Launch

Announcing the new name was an opportunity to renew enthusiasm for the organization. To facilitate the transition, we drafted a Why We Changed Our Name document, letters to each stakeholder group, FAQs, a video, and other materials. The launch events generated lots of excitement and the name was well received by staff and donors, and garnered some media coverage (handled by a PR firm).

Outcomes

Rising Ground’s new brand eliminates the confusion with their old name, inspires donors with an uplifting message, and gives staff a clear purpose to rally around.

Most importantly, Rising Ground is positioned as a leader in the social services sector — one not known for bold changes. Leake & Watts’ transformation to Rising Ground has sent a signal to the sector that it is leading the way with bold decisions. They are seen as an attractive potential partner for acquiring other agencies, and their new brand is serving them well as in vying for attention and funding in these uncertain political times.

CLIENT: IMPACCT Brooklyn

We completely redesigned the website for this affordable housing organization in Brooklyn to make it easier for people to access services. After dissecting all of the services, we created Get Help pages around users needs. Instead of having to search through each program area, users can how easily find relevant services and events. Custom collages bring life to the Program pages.

We developed a custom events section that allows the client to store information for recurring events, such as the descriptions, locations, and contact information so that it can be easily used repeatedly and changed universally throughout site with a single change.

The website is making a huge difference in how people engage with the organization’s services, and is much easier for the client to maintain.

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Red Rooster Group helped us completely rethink our website from the bottom up. They revamped our website to being through the eyes of the people we serve, making it much easier for them to access services. Throughout the process, Howard and his team over-delivered, going above and beyond what was in our Agreement. They created a sophisticated system for managing our events, they wrote copy for the website with the right tone to reflect our brand, they created collages to engage our visitors, and developed an illustrated timeline for our history. Throughout the process, they were very professional, and persistent in following up on all details that led to a terrific website. As a result, we are in much stronger position to be resource for people, raise our profile, and gather donations.
— Deb Howard, Former Executive Director

CLIENT: U.S. Navy Seabee Historical Foundation

We developed this website as part of a $10 million capital campaign to preserve the legacy of the U.S. Navy’s construction battalions. Our approach for the website was to invite potential donors to explore the Seabees’ ingenuity while learning about the campaign, and the specifics of the museum. The website also describes the campaigns goals and shows mock ups of the exhibits to be created with donor funding. The blog features stories by famous Seabees such as football star Dick Butkus, and Fedex founder, Fred Smith.

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We created a cohesive and recognizable visual look with inspiring headlines around their theme that helps UMFS stand out from other social service agencies.

We unified their visual identity so that all divisions have appropriate symbols that connect to the parent organization.

To reflect UMFS’ new messaging we changed the name of their newsletter from Guardian to The Champion and showcased people who are living the organization’s mission.

To communicate the organization’s successes in a compelling way in their Impact Report, we created infographics visualizing accomplishments in five areas corresponding to their values.

We developed a responsive website that appealed to clinicians, parents, and donors. We wrote and designed the website to make it easy for users to understand UMFS’ services and take action, as well as for staff to update.

Throughout the site, stylized illustrations contribute to a design that’s both inviting and informative. Pages for each division of the agency thoughtfully address the concerns and challenges faced by each demographic.

To help UMFS communicate its message to its 300 employees statewide, we created a brand book that illustrates key points in an easy-to-understand way. 

We held brand workshops for key staff and the board to help them understand and embrace the brand messages. The sessions included hands-on activities to create enthusiasm for their brand.

The UMFS staff is now living their brand!

Client: Charterhouse School

This website accommodates two schools serving youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We wrote, designed, illustrated, and developed the website to be easy to read and to be fully responsive for mobile and tablets. Features include a pages for each of the two locations, description of the services and curriculum, calendars, and a blog.

Branding: We designed the website to tie into the brand that we created for the parent organization, UMFS, combining photos with illustrations to create a custom look for the organization.

Content Management: The website was created in WordPress, allowing the client to update all content in the website. The website also connects to the main administrative login for the school’s parent organization, allowing management to manage the site with the same login they use for managing their parent website.

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UMFS Case Study