Council of Better Business Bureaus
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is comprised of more than 300,000 businesses that contractually agree to treat customers in a fair and honest manner. Between 2006 and 2008, CRT/tanaka spearheaded a comprehensive brand development campaign to revitalize the BBB’s image and position the organization as the “go-to” place for trustworthy businesses.
After conducting extensive research and performing a brand equity analysis, CRT/tanaka built a comprehensive brand platform for BBB that addressed brand essence, promise, relationship and personality, as well as naming architecture for its many products and services. In addition, CRT/tanaka provided counsel on how to reposition BBB in the marketplace, developing a library of key messages, vocabulary and graphic identity standards including a new logo and tagline. The agency supported the internal and external launch of the new BBB brand through television and radio advertising and strategic marketing activities.
CRT/tanaka’s media relations work in conjunction with the brand launch resulted in significant coverage, including a lengthy article in The New York Times. Additionally, BBB saw a seven percent increase in the number of consumer complaints filed in 2008 vs. 2007, and the number of BBB Reliability Reports™ – free, online reports that provide information on a business – increased 15 percent over the previous year. The agency continues to assist BBB with its grassroots communications efforts.
REVITALIZING THE BBB BRAND
Challenge
In 2006, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and its 130 local bureaus across North America engaged CRT/tanaka to revitalize its 95-year-old brand and better position the organization as the “go-to” source on marketplace trust for both businesses and consumers. Businesses join BBB for the purpose of marketing their affiliation to consumers, and consumers use the organization to research and identify trustworthy businesses to hire. Therefore, the challenge was to develop a brand that would be relevant to businesses but that also would attract consumers to seek out trustworthy businesses through BBB.
Solution
Beginning in May 2006, CRT/tanaka analyzed volumes of research to understand more clearly consumer and business perceptions and attitudes regarding the BBB. CRT/tanaka performed a brand equity analysis, uncovering key findings that drove the strategic direction for positioning BBB as a standards-based organization versus a trade/membership organization. Research indicated that there was little understanding that businesses must go through a detailed review process and contractually agree to abide by a set of ethical standards in order to market their affiliation with BBB. As a result, we changed the Seal program from “BBB Member” to “BBB Accredited Business” and built a comprehensive brand platform, which included:
- Value propositions
- Brand essence
- Naming architecture
- Personality and tone of voice
- Key messaging map
- Graphic identity
- Tagline
Results
- In September 2006, CRT/tanaka presented the new brand platform at the BBB’s annual assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to more than 200 attendees with an overwhelmingly positive response.
- In October 2007, CRT/tanaka worked with the BBB to create and launch the organization’s new brand identity externally, which has resulted in significant media coverage, including a lengthy article in The New York Times, as well as coverage in U.S. News and World Report (online) and Inc. magazine (online).
- The BBB’s new brand also has been featured in numerous daily newspapers across North America, as well as in PRWeek magazine, the public relations industry’s leading trade publication.
