YMCA Brand Positioning

Part 1: Pre-Positioning

YMCA of the North (YOTN) is a top three YMCA in the United States and top five in the world. This status creates a lot of visibility and sets an expectation of leadership. The federated model YMCAs operates under also comes expectations about how we present ourselves. We were tasked with navigating the space between presenting the unique nature of YOTN and maintaining compliance with our Y-USA charter.

In strategy, voice, and vision, the foundation for our brand repositioning work was built through the time, trial, and perspiration we put into determining what works (and how it works together).

Brand Compass and Website Transformation

Originally tasked with transforming a huge website with limited resources, we knew to ‘eat the elephant one bite at a time.’ We also knew that YMCA of the north serves four distinct audience segments: camps, child care, fitness, and social services. So, to help us navigate this challenge, we developed the brand compass, which evolved to show four doors leading to one YMCA grounded in community and whole-person wellbeing.

Like siblings, the four subsites express distinct qualities within a common design. The most noteworthy device being the use of color and color bands, which help users distinguish between them while also expressing the philosophical and programmatic bonds they share.

Five Dimensions of Wellbeing (5DoW)

We created and developed Five Dimensions (nourish, move, reflect, connect, and restore) as part of the George Wellbeing Initiative, which brings an integrative health approach to the Y. This concept ultimately inspired our BHAG to become ‘the leader in wellbeing experiences for individuals and communities,’ which is also reflected in the brand compass.

Additional Materials

The compass, colorways, and the Five Dimension were all applied to new materials as we laid the groundwork for a promised brand repositioning campaign. Some of my favorite examples include the Virtual Y studio doors (above), Letter From Camp Magazine, and donor presentations.