[NFBOH-Cleveland] From the March Braille Monitor!

[Cheryl Fields]

Building the National Federation of the Blind Brand Part 2: The Brand
Personality
by Chris Danielsen
Chris Danielsen
>From the Editor: One of the people who has been very involved in
helping us to evolve our brand and to make it better known is our own
Chris Danielsen, a talented and energetic Federationist who works as
our director of public relations at the Jernigan Institute. Here is
what Chris says:
In the January issue of the Braille Monitor, my colleague Kirsten Mau
talked about what it means for the National Federation of the Blind to
have a brand and for all of us to live that brand in the work we do
for the organization. She closed her article by talking about the
elements that help us define the brand. These elements, taken
together, are known as the brand architecture. We can think of them as
the pillars that support the house that is our brand. As Kirsten said,
the brand architecture is “the internal framework that explains the
components of our brand: our values, our personality, our positioning,
our value proposition, and our brand promise. It is important that
each of us understands and embraces these components so that those
outside the organization will know who we are, what we value, why we
exist, and what we intend to achieve.”
Wait a second. Personality? Yes, you read that right.
On the face of it, the idea of a brand having a personality seems
unusual. We often think of personalities as being associated with
people. After all, the word “personality” contains the word “person.”
But we all know from our own experience that personality isn’t limited
to people. Any pet owner will tell you that her dog, cat, or parakeet
has its own personality; those with multiple pets can tell them apart
by their behavior.
Brands have personalities too. If you think about it, most of the
brands we’re familiar with expend a great deal of effort to convince
us that we should like them, not just because of what they make or
sell, but because of what it supposedly represents. Insurance
companies want to convince us that they are on our side and that they
will help us out when we need them. State Farm had an ad campaign in
which individuals singing the “like a good neighbor, State Farm is
there” jingle magically summoned a knowledgeable, helpful
representative. Of course, this doesn’t really happen; the filing of
insurance claims takes phone calls and paperwork, no matter who you’re
dealing with. But State Farm was sending the message that it would
solve its customers’ problems as soon as it was called upon. Speaking
of insurance companies, we don’t normally think of dealing with them
as being fun. Yet GEICO, with its cute spokes-gecko and humorous ads,
wants to project a whimsical, fun image.
The fact that the National Federation of the Blind has a personality
makes even more sense; we are, after all, a membership organization.
By definition, we are the sum of the people who are part of our
movement and who work together to accomplish our goals. The way that
we interact with each other, with potential members, and with the
public puts the “person” in our personality. With that in mind, let’s
examine the personality traits that make us who we are.
Innovative
The National Federation of the Blind isn’t a bunch of blind people
complaining about our problems; we’re an organization of problem
solvers. We created NFB-NEWSLINE® so that blind people can read the
daily newspaper. We developed KNFB Reader so that the blind can have
instant access to printed documents. We developed our BELL Academies
so that blind children who are not receiving enough Braille
instruction in school can get the extra Braille and nonvisual skill
training they need. We created STEM programs to pioneer ways that
blind students can fully and accessibly experience science,
technology, engineering, and math courses. We designed our own white
canes and pioneered the Structured Discovery Method of teaching cane
travel and other blindness skills. When there are changes that need to
be made to laws or policies, we draft proposed legislation and work
with our elected representatives to get it passed into law. In these
and many other ways, we innovate to make the lives of blind people
better.
There’s more to innovation than our national programs, of course. In
my local chapter, our president asks a chapter member to share a tip
for accomplishing some task as a blind person at each of our meetings.
We talk about things like cooking techniques, how to organize and/or
label our clothes, and how to get around safely when there’s a lot of
snow on the ground. From these discussions, I know that we as blind
people are innovating in small ways every day.
Inspirational
One of our missions as an organization is to raise expectations for
blind people; in other words, to inspire. Of course, the speeches we
hear from our leaders are inspiring, but there’s more. Our positive
philosophy, and the examples our members set for each other, make
blind people and the public aware that more is possible for the blind
than is generally believed. In 2001, the National Federation of the
Blind sponsored an expedition in which a blind man, Erik Weihenmayer,
climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. Mr. Weihenmayer, an
experienced climber, had set himself this challenge. The point of our
sponsoring his expedition wasn’t that every blind person could or
should climb Mount Everest, but that blind people can achieve whatever
dream or goal is personally important to us.
While projects like the Everest expedition are important, there are
thousands of examples of blind people inspiring each other taking
place throughout our organization every day. We inspire each other to
pursue new careers, to try new hobbies, to start a fitness regimen, or
just to go to a new restaurant in an unfamiliar part of town. This is
how we lift each other individually and blind people as a group.
Inviting
So many stories of how and why people became Federationists start with
an invitation. In fact, my own story starts that way. I had never
thought about joining an organization of blind people, but while I was
participating in a summer program at the South Carolina Commission for
the Blind, one of my friends convinced me to stay in town one weekend
and attend the state NFB convention. This was nearly thirty years ago,
and while I don’t remember all of the speeches that were made or the
issues that were discussed in great detail, I remember how people at
the convention made me feel. They were welcoming. They were eager to
tell their stories and to hear mine. We listened in the convention
sessions and talked about what we learned. We also caroused and
“carried on” late into the night. By the end of that weekend, I had
learned a great deal, but I’d also made some new friends and had a
good time. The same thing happened, on a larger scale, when I attended
my first national convention two years later.
I hear similar stories from other Federationists all the time, and
I’ll bet you do too. For some, the first invitation was to a chapter
meeting, or to a social event, or just to visit another blind person
who happened to be a member. People have joined our organization
because of a dinner, or a drink, or a holiday party, or a conversation
on a train or airplane. They join because someone invited them to do
so, or at least invited them to learn more about us.
Powerful
The last of our personality traits is unique in a couple of ways: it’s
the only one that doesn’t begin with the letter I, and it flows from
the others. If you forget it, though, you might think about another
I-word: influential.
The National Federation of the Blind is powerful in a lot of ways, but
for this article I’ll just point out that a lot of our power comes
from our other personality traits. Because we are innovators in the
blindness field, we are increasingly respected and listened to.
Because we invite people into our movement, our movement continues to
grow. Because we are an innovative, inspired movement of tens of
thousands of blind people, we have the power to make things happen.
So, there you have it: our brand personality. Each of us amplifies
this personality by exercising its traits in our own lives and
actions: by inviting friends and potential supporters to learn more
about us; by innovating in our own small ways to lessen the
inconvenience of blindness; and by inspiring our blind brothers and
sisters to believe in themselves and to achieve more than they thought
possible. Keeping these traits in mind, and displaying them for
others, is one of the many ways in which we can “live” our brand.
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