Sourcewell Expands its Purpose-Driven Mission with a Clear Brand Foundation
How strategic brand evolution established a vision for the future and laid the groundwork for expansion
Overview
Sourcewell, a government agency driven to empower fellow public employees, was best known for its cooperative purchasing offering. But as the organization aimed to grow its offering suite, it sought our strategic guidance to determine if the brand could effectively expand to other solutions — and if so, how?
We partnered with Sourcewell to uncover market opportunities, evolve its brand foundation and develop future-focused messages that would clarify its position both internally and externally. Together, we laid the groundwork for Sourcewell to grow into a hub of solutions without losing focus on its core purpose.
The Ask: How might we define the Sourcewell brand and its relationship to the cooperative purchasing offering to effectively expand its solution suite?
As Sourcewell prepared to expand its portfolio, its team recognized an opportunity to clarify the brand’s story. The new narrative needed to make space for growth without forgetting the organization’s cooperative purchasing roots and existing impact.
Stakeholders brought valuable, diverse perspectives to the table. Sourcewell turned to us to help future-proof its positioning through a robust strategic exercise.
How: Combine brand and market analysis to design a brand architecture that can clarify Sourcewell’s identity and pave the way for scalable growth.
We began by speaking with stakeholders, developing insights, and producing a cohesive framework that solidified Sourcewell’s identity and prepared it for growth.
1. Discovery and Research
Stakeholder interviews, a materials audit and competitive and industry analysis enabled us to understand Sourcewell’s current brand, positioning challenges and opportunities for differentiation.
2. Collaborative Brand Strategy
Next, we met with Sourcewell to share our findings, refine strategic priorities and explore how the brand could evolve from cooperative purchasing to a hub of solutions. We discovered that a hybrid brand architecture would insulate cooperative purchasing while making room to take on new ventures outside of Sourcewell’s core brand offerings.
3. Positioning and Messaging
We translated our insights into an evolved positioning statement and new messaging framework, including brand pillars, key messages, and proof points. We also developed a product architecture strategy and decision tree for continued offering expansion.
What: Sourcewell is a trusted hub of solutions, unified by its core commitment to empower positive community impact.
Our process determined that beneath its cooperative purchasing offering, Sourcewell stood for a broader purpose that would both reinforce its trusted reputation and expand future possibilities. The brand can hold other solutions, as long as its commitment to empower positive, collective impact remains at its core and acts as the thread throughout all offerings. With this in mind, Sourcewell can become a hub of solutions that supports a variety of public sector needs, now and in the future.
Where
Now, we’re working with Sourcewell to activate the evolved brand through carefully planned internal and external strategies.
Internal Activation
To align internal teams around the fresh brand identity, we delivered tools and training to confidently and consistently articulate Sourcewell’s offerings. We developed messaging one-sheeters tailored to its core target audiences and revised its new employee brand video script.
We also developed an internal team training session to increase buy-in, build enthusiasm and prepare teams to champion the evolved brand.
External Activation
Rollout of Sourcewell’s evolved messaging will launch gradually, starting with updated website copy to a handful of key pages. Future product launches and campaigns will continue to speak to Sourcewell’s range of solutions.
The Outcome
Together with Sourcewell, we established a strong foundation for its evolution into a hub of purpose-driven solutions. Updated messaging, product architecture, brand collateral and training, will continue to enable its team to tell a consistent story and drive growth.
With a scalable brand framework in place, Sourcewell is now well-positioned to confidently expand its offerings, capture new market opportunities and continue to enhance public employees’ community impact.
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Senior Director, Content