From the Leopold Center

1. Branding
Communities of Practice

2. Why focus on branding?
• “What is (Value Chain Partnerships)?”
– Ask the following question to all members of your network
– Their answers may all be true, but are they all DIFFERENT?
• Establishing your own brand identity will
– Validate who you are and what you do
– Differentiate you from other organizations
– Create loyalty amongst team members and supporters

3. What does this have to do
with branding cattle?
• Cattle are branded so that
they can be recognized
by their owner
• Communities of practice
are branded so their
collaborative work can be
recognized by others in a
clear, concise, and
consistent manner

4. What are you branding?
Small Meat
Processors
Pork Niche
Market Grass-Based
Livestock
Value Chain
Partnerships
An Iowa-Based Network of
Food and Agriculture
Working Groups
Regional Food Fruit and
Systems Vegetable
• With a community of practice, you are branding
– The network and its power of collaboration
– Not the organization and its products and services

5. What is branding?
• Branding is your network’s identity
Who are you?
Branding
What do you do best? How do you do it?
• A clear, concise, and consistent message about who you are, what
you do, and how you do it will help you more effectively reach out
to your target audience
• Targeted communication will generate support and increase your
group’s ability to make an impact

6. Branding your network
• Value Chain Partnerships
Who are you? What do you do best? How do you do
it?
(What type of (What benefit do you
organization + want people to + (Why is your
do you have?) associate with your organization so
organization?) successful?)
A network of
food and Deliver social, Bring together a
agriculture economic, and diverse group of
working environmental appropriate
groups benefits to clients and players
communities

7. Branding your network
• Write your positioning statement
– Value Chain Partnerships is an Iowa-Based Network for Food
and Agriculture Working Groups. These groups bring together a
diverse ensemble of producers, processors, and private, non-
profit, and government organizations across a variety of market
driven food and agricultural issues to deliver social, economic,
and environmental benefits to clients and communities.
• A tagline might help quickly clarify your organization’s title
– Value Chain Partnerships is an Iowa-Based Network for Food and
Agriculture Working Groups.

8. When is the right time to
focus on branding?
If you answer “YES!” to the following questions…
• Has your organization identified its niche?
– Do you know what you stand for and are you committed to making it work?
• Do you need to differentiate your organization?
– Are there similar organizations in the arena in which you operate?
• Is your organization sending mixed messages?
– Are members of your organization sending different messages about what you
stand for?
• Are people talking about your organization when you’re
out of earshot?
– Can you personally answer every question, or will people think they know what
your organization stands for and make decisions based on their assumptions?
…then it’s time to BRAND!