A Regional Chamber Reinvents Its Brand

 

Since 2012, the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce (TRCC) has helped thousands of businesses and nonprofits develop and thrive in its community. The organization supports businesses and organizations in and around Tysons, in Fairfax County, VA. Tysons is considered an edge city and is regarded as a model for transforming a suburb into a functional, flexible urban center.

Problem/Background

Like virtually all organizations experienced, 2020 was an unprecedented and challenging year for the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce. Though there were many successes in 2020, 2021 provided an opportunity for the Chamber to regroup and rebrand.The TRCC approached Enthuse Creative Founder and Creative Director Reggie Holmes to work with them on a strategic rebranding. The Chamber wanted a new brand identity and positioning to better reflect its new mission and vision for 2021 and beyond.

Approach and Goals

We worked with a small internal team of stakeholders, including board members, over a period of 2-3 months. We started with a brand audit, a deep dive into the Chamber’s current brand identity and positioning. Having served as chair of the Marketing Committee for the Chamber for the past two years, Reggie could leverage deep knowledge of the Chamber’s recent history. 

A primary goal of the rebranding initiative was to create a modern, versatile look for the Chamber that communicated the vibrancy of the area. Tysons transforms from a place where commuters come in during the day to work and leave after work, to a place where people “Live Work and Play”. We sought ways to emphasize that vibrancy, such as expanding the color palette to incorporate three main colors, each of which represented one of those areas – Live, Work and Play. This aligned with another goal, which was  to boldly distinguish the Chamber from the dozens of others in the region and move away from the red and blue palette, which is closely identified with government-related entities. Another goal was to create a strong, standalone design that could be used independently of the name. This mark needed to be flexible and could be used on any application.

Solution and Outcomes

After a series of “design, review, refine” rounds, we emerged from the process with a bold new logo that created a standout new identity for the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce. It instantly elevated the brand of the Chamber, and in conjunction with a new website that launched simultaneously, provided the Chamber a vibrant facelift that has been very well-received by Chamber members and the community. The move away from the old branding brings an optimistic, colorful flair that was lacking in the previous mark.

The new brand identity is eye-catching, with many details that speak to key elements of the Tysons region and its namesake chamber. 

  • The Hub Symbol: The circular disk is meant to reflect the idea of a hub. The mission statement of the Chamber states “Be the hub of Prosperity and Community Engagement for Tysons area businesses by providing Chamber Members connections that matter.” The TRCC calls its groupings of businesses in the same verticals “hubs”.
  • The Big T: Tysons is a growing area, but it is not a fully incorporated city. It is undergoing a change, traditionally it was known as Tysons Corner, but is dropping Corner from its name. We did not want to feature a specific geographic location nor a specific landmark as Tysons does not have a true signature landmark we could visually reference. Instead, we chose to use the capital T shape that fills the middle of the hub to at once represent the entire region.
  • Colors: The 3 colors selected represent the three values of Live, Work, Play. Together they represent sunrise/sunset (living), work day (lighter blue), and evening/night (dark blue).
  • The buildings/skyline: If Tysons is known for anything, it’s for its tremendous growth over the last 30 years and the many tall buildings that dot its skyline. We sought a way to reference this and so the angled shapes were added to reference the skyline and buildings. 

The new brand was released to the Chamber and was launched along with the new website in early September 2021 to great acclaim. The Chamber has reported a significant increase in interest in its activities and initiatives and we look forward to more opportunities to serve the Chamber and the Tysons community.

“Reggie and the Enthuse Creative team did an exceptional job rebranding the Tysons Chamber. They took the time to understand the Chamber’s Member Base and vision and produced a brand that is both representative and inspiring – a perfect fit for the Chamber’s growth plans. Thank you Enthuse Creative!”

Kevin Schafer – TRCC Board of Directors