_aiesec brand experience toolkit

The Brand Experience Toolkit

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Brand Experience Toolkit

Table of Contents

1.0 History of the AIESEC Brand

1.1 What is a brand?

1.2 Why do we have a global brand?

1.3 Brand Promise vs. Brand Experience: an evolution

2.0 The Brand Experience

2.1 An overview

2.2 Our competitors

2.3 Our target audiences

2.4 Physical manifestations

2.5 Benefits

2.6 Differentiator

2.7 Essence

3.0 Filter tool – how to use the Brand Experience in practice

3.1 Assessing your results

3.2 Finding support



History of the AIESEC brand

The global AIESEC brand as we know it today was launched by AIESEC International in 2004. The first Brand Toolkit included

explanations on what is a brand, why we need one and the steps in order to achieve that, including our Brand Promise, visual

guidelines and marketing campaign.

1.1 What is a brand?

A brand is more than just a logo, slogan or a colour scheme; it is the image and reputation that we want others to associate with our organization. But, a brand is also more than just the image that we want others to have of us; it is also a description of the organization that we want to be. A brand is an expression of your actions and what you do every day. In AIESEC, our global brand is represented through our living The AIESEC Way. Our ―Brand Experience‖ is the experience we

want our stakeholders (members, supporters and enablers) to live when they interact with AIESEC. The closer we can make this

experience to the entirety of our Brand Experience the more we are strengthening our global brand every day.

1.2 Why do we have a global brand?

Having a global brand allows AIESEC (1) to be more consistent and credible, (2) to attract more stakeholders and give AIESEC a

clear competitive advantage; (3) to attract the right stakeholders and to set the right expectations; and (4) to align the organization

to globally leverage the AIESEC Experience.

1.0 – History of the AIESEC brand



1.3 Brand Promise vs. Brand Experience: an evolution

The Brand Promise introduced in 2004 was the start of the branding initiative from AIESEC International, bringing the network

together to have one visual identity and synergizing messages across the network. While the earlier brand promise helped quite a

bit to align the organization to be transmitting common messages, it was difficult to apply to products and also quite internally

focused, not providing reasons for partners to engage with AIESEC rather than our competition. The brand promise was made up

of words that we felt best described AIESEC, but there was no clear plan on how to use it in practice.

Now a few years later, we see the need to evolve this further in order for it to be used in practice, including how it should be used in

relation to product development and messaging—a crucial step on the path to creating a strong global brand for AIESEC. As a

result, with the help of consultants from Unilever, we now have what we call the Brand Experience. This methodology will serve as

a tool that can be used to filter everything we do quickly and easily to understand its alignment to our brand, which in the end

supports in its strengthening.

Unlike the brand promise which was internally focused, the Brand Experience first considers the outside environment and looks

inward, reflecting how our stakeholders actually experience our brand when they interact with AIESEC, and how we do things

differently than our competitors. By being conscious of this we can ensure that we are strengthening our global brand in all actions

we take, meeting the needs of our stakeholders and putting us ahead of our competitors at the same time.

1.0 – History of the AIESEC brand



The Brand Experience

2.0 – The Brand Experience

2.0 – The Brand Experience



The Brand Experience: an overview

The Brand Experience is a simple way to understand how our target audiences (members, supporters and enablers) experience (or

interact with) the AIESEC brand. The interactions and touch points they have with AIESEC will shape the impression of what

AIESEC is to them, and by being conscious of this we can manage the kind of experience we would like our target audiences to

have with AIESEC.

The Brand Experience has several elements that will be discussed in more detail in this toolkit. They include:

Our competitors (organizations offering similar products to our target audiences)

Target audiences (our potential members, enablers and supporters)

Physical manifestations (the first interaction point to AIESEC for our target audiences)

Benefits (what our target audiences get out of engaging with AIESEC)

Our Values (reflective of The AIESEC Way)

Discriminator (what distinguishes us from our competitors)

Essence (what we do in AIESEC, what we are about)

The next few pages of this toolkit will explain each section of the Brand Experience in more detail.

2.1 – The Brand Experience: an overview



Our Competitors

Our competitors are other organizations that offer

similar experiences to our target audiences as we do.

They may be slightly or even very similar to us, based

on what they offer. These include organizations

offering:

Work abroad opportunities

Volunteer abroad opportunities

Cultural experiences

Skills development

Networks

Although there may be a few common competitors for AIESEC across this globe (ie) IAESTE for internships or JCI for volunteer

opportunities, your direct competitors will differ from country to country, and perhaps even from city to city. It is important that you

are aware of such similar organizations and the work they are doing so that you are able to identify how AIESEC differs from their

activities and what we offer to our target audiences vs. what our competitors offer to them.

2.2 – Our Competitors



Our target audiences

As seen from our Balance Scorecard, our target

audiences can be divided into three distinct groups of

people:

Members

Enablers (TN takers, mentors and

learning/content partners), and

Supporters (financial and in-kind partners, Board

of Advisors)

The kinds of characteristics we would be looking for in

potential members, enablers and supporters include:

Characteristics for potential members:

Young people – recent graduates and students

Youth interested in world issues

Those who enjoy challenges

Open minded active learners

Those with an interest in leadership development

Passionate and determined

Those looking for learning and development opportunities

2.3 – Our target audiences

2.3 – Our target audiences



Characteristics for potential enablers:

TN takers o Companies expanding to other countries o Companies that needs and employees with specific characteristics o Companies with strong CSR or a willingness to start o Issues focused; market leaders

Learning/content partners o Organizations working with issues relevant in society o Global organizations (with global reach) o Research-based organizations o Individuals with specific skills/knowledge/experience in a particular field

Mentors o HR companies/specialists o University professors o Alumni o Industry specialists

Characteristics for potential supporters:

Sponsors, financial and in-kind o Organizations working on similar issues relevant in society o Companies/organizations that are working with youth o Organizations with the same end benefit

Board of advisors o Industry specialists o Alumni o High profile people

2.4 – Physical manifestations



Physical manifestations

This layer includes all the external touch points (or

interaction points) our target audiences have with

AIESEC. Thus, their first interaction point with AIESEC

will affect how they experience our brand.

This layer includes things such as our marketing

materials and visual branding guidelines (including our

logo), but also extends to much more than this.

The first interaction point that our target audiences have

with AIESEC including everything from physical

meetings to our website, conferences, even our Code of

Ethics, all shape the way our target audiences will

understand AIESEC.

Please note: the visual guidelines are currently being

refreshed. The newest version is expected to be released in

September 2007.



Benefits

Benefits are what our target audiences (or stakeholders)

get out of engaging with AIESEC. While the benefits are

the same for all target audience groups, the reasons why

they are a benefit for each target audience differs based

on the different ―experiences‖ that these audiences have

with our brand.

These are the benefits that our target audiences

experience when they interact with AIESEC.

Societal impact

Personal and professional development

International experience

Global network

Although they are benefits for different reasons, the above four are benefits for all of our stakeholders, or target audiences. The

chart below explains this in more detail.

2.5 – Benefits

2.5 – Benefits



Societal impact

Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

To have an impact on a certain issue

Learning opportunity Providing the same experience

to others

Knowledge sharing Feeling of supporting to make an

impact in society

Leadership development Feeling of contributing to having an

impact on society through others

Personal and professional development


Self development (leadership development, self-discovery, skill building)

Supporting development of others Feeling of supporting to make an

impact on society

Access to top talent; having top talent in their organization

Feeling of supporting to make an impact on others



Global network


Peers, alumni, businesses all over the world

Connect to youth around the world, other organizations

Alumni, youth around the world, other organizations

International experience


Exchange opportunities, global learning environment, international conferences, etc.

Interaction with members who have international experience (open minded/worldly)

Branding and positioning International conference

involvement

Diversity in workforce Branding and positioning Interaction with members who

have international experience (open minded/worldly)

2.5 – Benefits



Our Values

Our values are an important part of the Brand

Experience. The organizational values defined in The

AIESEC Way were not made to be written up on a wall

and forgotten about. They dictate how we should act

according to our value system for the organization. Our

values are also what our target audiences experience

and live when they interact with AIESEC, thus they

definitely determine how others view us and experience

our brand.

Imagine a TN taker hears all about the ambitious top talented youth that

exist in AIESEC during his first interaction at a conference and decides to

taken on an intern for himself. Imagine that intern meets all his

expectations of being a bright, ambitious and passionate young person

that makes a big difference in the company. The impression that TN taker

will have of AIESEC will be quite good, because of the way he

experienced our brand. Now imagine the same situation but in a negative

way, this is not how we want our stakeholders to experience AIESEC.

That is why values are so important and interlinked with our brand.

Demonstrating integrity

Acting sustainably

Activating leadership

Enjoying participation

Living diversity

Striving for excellence

2.6 – Our values

Our values



Differentiator

Youth driven impactful experience

Our differentiator is what makes us unique, or simply

put, what sets us apart from the competition. This layer

is very much linked with the next (the essence). While

the essence may not be unique to our competitors, our

differentiator is the unique point—how we do what we do

differently than our competitors.

Through the result of discussions held at the Global

Brand Principles meeting held in May 2007, three

concrete things that combined set AIESEC apart

include:

Youth driven – the concept that AIESEC is run by youth for youth

Integrated experience – the AIESEC experience comprised of leadership opportunities, an international exchange and a global learning environment

Impact/activating positive leadership – making a positive impact on society

To express these three differentiators in one sentence we have come up with the phrase: Youth driven impactful experience. Each

part of this phrase has a strong meaning behind it.

2.7 – Differentiator

2.7 – Differentiator



Youth driven

This emphasizes energy, passion, emotion, and leadership or leading, essentially what AIESEC is about. It also reinforces

the fact that we are youth run.

Impactful

This is about the kind of experience that our stakeholders have when they engage with AIESEC, and the positive impact it

can have on them and/or on society.

Experience

The complete yet individual experience that our stakeholders have with AIESEC from a member’s AIESEC experience to a

TN taker’s experience with an intern to a sponsor’s experience at a conference. This experience draws together all aspects

of the AIESEC experience – leadership opportunities, international exchange and a global learning environment.

What the differentiator is not

This sentence is not meant to be used explicitly to explain AIESEC. The essence behind this statement is what matters. When

you are explaining what sets AIESEC apart these are elements that should come up in your explanation, though the actual phrase

―youth driven impactful experience‖ is not meant to be a slogan.



Essence

This is the essence of what we do as an organization.

This may not be different to our competitors, but it is the

centre of our actions. Our differentiator is how we do

this differently to our competitors.

Our essence is taken from the essence of the brand

promise: activating leadership.

AIESEC is about providing the platform and necessary tools for youth to develop themselves, so that they can have a positive impact on their environments.

Through activating leadership we also want to communicate the important role the individual plays in the experience - the self-driven element. We do this through the concept of AIESEC as a platform of opportunities from which individuals can drive their own experience. The essence of activating leadership can be captured in three simple elements:

AIESEC is the platform - individuals drive their own experience

We help individuals to both develop and discover their potential Our ambition is to develop people that will have a positive impact on society

2.7 – Differentiator 2.8 – Essence



The Filter tool – how to use the Brand Experience in practice

In order to use the Brand Experience in practice, a filter tool has been created which is a simple set of questions that you can apply

to any product or message to check if it is aligned to the Brand Experience or not. If it is not, using this tool will also help to indicate

what areas need to be improved in order for your product/messaging to be strengthening our brand.

To use this tool, you will need to have your product in question with you. Go through the series of questions below and answer

them using a ―traffic light‖ system: green if the answer if completely true, red if it is completely untrue and yellow if it is somewhere

in the middle. The Filter tool questions:

Question Green Yellow Red

1. Is it true to the essence (activating leadership)?

2. Is it true to our differentiator (youth driven impactful experience) and thus

different to those offered by our competitors?

3. Is it consistent with or not contradicting any of our values?

4. Is it reflecting the integrated development experience in The AIESEC Way

(exchange, leadership, global learning environment) and our current

organizational strategy?

5. Is it reflecting at least two primary benefits?

6. Is it adhering to the visual guidelines?

3.0 – The filter tool



3.1 Assessing your results

After going through the filter tool above with a product, idea for a product or general messaging you should have a grid of

green/yellow and/or red that will give you an indication of how closely your assessment reflects the Brand Experience.

For products with many green’s, this is a very good representation of the Brand Experience and will help to strengthen our global

brand.

For products with many yellows, this should be an indicator that some parts of the product need to be worked on a bit more in order

to better reflect the whole of our Brand Experience and contribute to strengthening our brand. Use the Brand Experience filter tool

to help you identify what areas exactly need a bit of work in order to be more reflective of our ideal Brand Experience, and strive for

this.

For products with many red’s, first consider how much this product is reflecting our Brand Experience. If it is not, then it is not the

ideal way we would want our target audiences to interact with AIESEC. In this case, consider the need of this product in your LC or

MC and work out a plan to ensure the product will be redefined in the future, towards our Brand Experience, or consider phasing

out the product altogether, by finding other more aligned products to help meet the financial resources brought in by your non-

aligned product.

3.2 Finding support

The Global Communication Crew can help you to use this tool to help strengthen our brand. Check out the Global Branding

Community on www.aiesec.net for more information.

3.1 – Assessing your results

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