Yes We Can! Dothan
Community Members and the Education System Coming Together... Now We’re Talking.
Community Members and the Education System Coming Together... Now We’re Talking.
Yes We Can! is a state-wide community awareness movement and education program. Brainstormed in Mobile, Alabama, the Yes We Can idea brings community members, stake-holders and public school systems together through a dialog process called Community Conversations. Meant to keep the lines of communication open and participants invested, YWC has made its way across the state. As each program is independent from the others, I was asked to develop the identity and campaign materials for the Dothan initiative.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Logo. The Yes We Can! logo was designed for the young and the young at heart. If we planned to have kids and their parents excited about the program, it better be an image that conveyed a sense of fun, wonder and excitement. The end result is a playful, energetic approach -- almost like the kids may have designed it themselves.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Logo. One color and greyscale versions of the logo were important. Hundreds of thousands of Xerox copies later, they’re still pretty important.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Letterhead Suite. The formal letterhead suite continues the idea of excitement in the logo, and the bright green color was chosen to be visible from, according to one 10-year old “...like, a ba-zillion miles away”. Mission accomplished.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Volunteer Materials. The most visible component Yes We Can! has in its campaign are its volunteers, and supplying them with effective resources was a crucial step. Simple 4x9 brochures outlining the program and how to get involved helps volunteers answer questions. Stickers are, for lack of a better way to describe them, simple and fun! 300 excited school kids, all running around with YWC! stickers on their shirts is a really cool sight to see.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Yard Sign. Another simple, yet critical, tool looks like a simple yard sign. But for some reason, three years after they were introduced they’re all still around. If you ask the people who still have them displayed proudly in their yards, they mean something. A simple yard sign has become more than their way to show their support, investment and commitment to the Yes We Can! project -- these days they represent a sense of cache. Parents and kids alike think they’re cool. We couldn’t have asked for it to turn out any better...
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Internal Marketing Materials. Hundreds of volunteers generate a lot of information. Blank letterhead sheets were distributed to help committees communicate the YWC! brand and its message in a simple but elegant way.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Internal Marketing Materials. Where copiers or fax machines came into play, a series of YWC! branded forms and documents were created. These maintained and extended the YWC! brand’s continuity, even through something as basic as a fax.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Advertising. If not treated properly, I realized the concept of “coming together as one” could quickly turn into a cliche. But... I convinced the YWC! executive team that it would only be a cliche if we failed to make good on our promise. I used elements like the button and lined school paper to tie the concept back to education, and multiple headlines and images were developed to communicate a consistent, yet evolving, series of messages.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Advertising. Extending the Yes We Can! messages to include media outlets like newspaper and outdoor were also part of the campaign.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - TV/Video Advertising. Another way to reach out to stake-holders involved developing a series of video messages. Used for both TV advertising and through social media outlets like YouTube, Yes We Can’s PSA-like messages move fast enough to reach a younger, more tech-savvy target audience.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Communication Tools. We identified early on that communication would be the key to Yes We Can! Dothan’s success. A Project Handbook helps organize individual volunteer and committee efforts, and online tools like Email Blasts deliver newsletter information and updates at the speed of light. Working together, these tools and others help keep the YWC! troops informed.
YES WE CAN! DOTHAN - Digital/Online Resources. One final component to the campaign involved addressing online and/or digital media. Using a website as a base and then utilizing various forms of social media to promote its efforts, Yes We Can! Dothan would be able take full advantage of what the World Wide Web has to offer.
