1. Building a brand starts with knowing your story.
INTRODUCTION
Building a brand starts with knowing your story.
OAESA worked with the branding company Storyforge to articulate our clarity of purpose and align all aspects of our business.
I want to share our association’s journey from this past year. We serve about 2000 PreK-8th grade administrators throughout the state of Ohio, but think’s it’s relevant and transferrable for any size association. I’m providing you resources, etc.
history- board wanted to do a membership drive
why do people join us?
More importantly- why don’t they join us?
Are your messages and marketing Interruptions or Inspiration?
Interruption is transactional on our part- we have something we want to tell you
Inspiration makes a connection; adds a lift in your day.
Don’t think about marketing think about conveying the value and meaning of being an OAESA member.
I have my ideas and assumptions- but am I right?
Well, I better find out what that is!
Same time enamored with the power of story
So- we worked with a company called STORYFORGE – a bit about them, and us doing all the work with their tools.
This was ALL done by our staff and board members; Coaching by Storyforge.

2. GOAL FOR OUR WORK WITH STORYFORGE
Better engage, serve and connect our stakeholders and the community of school administrators, resulting in membership growth and enhancing OAESA’s impact.
OBJECTIVES:
Discover and codify our purpose (one reflective of our stakeholders' wants and needs, our beliefs, and what we do better than anyone else)
Articulate a meaningful and purpose-centered brand story (one that is authentic, relevant, emotionally engaging) that includes:
Here’s what we did- codify – organize systematize
Let’s be clear- a goal is STILL membership growth, but not only numbers of members, but that member’s experience.
Purpose Mission Vision Stakeholders
Have insights about ourselves to better align our organization with this story (across all parts of the organization from people, to processes, to products/services, to positioning)

3. FIVE STEPS
DISCOVER purpose - who you truly are, what you believe, who you serve, and why
CODIFY framework – codify your singular and unique purpose, how you’ll fulfill it, and what the world will look like once you do
FORGE story - forge a story around this purpose that is relevant, authentic, and emotionally compelling
ALIGN organization - align everything in your organization with this story so you can not only tell it, but live it every day, at every touch point, and through every interaction
AMPLIFY story - tell and live the meaningful story we have created, leveraging our stakeholders to amplify it
Becky
*After reviewing each of these steps, ask for questions and check for understanding
Our work will follow four steps:
• Discover purpose - who you truly are, what you believe and who you serve and why
• Codify (systematize, organize) our framework - codify your singular and unique purpose, how you will fulfill it and what the world will look like once you do
• Forge - forge a story around this purpose that is relevant, authentic and emotionally compelling
• Align – align everything in your organization with this story so you can not only tell it but live it every day at every touch point and through every interaction this is strong – this is the work of today
Amplify - tell and live the meaningful story we have created, leveraging our stakeholders to amplify it – this what we’re setting the stage for

4. RESOURCES FOR YOU Board Member Survey Board Member Phone Interview
Focus Group Questions
Member Survey
Potential Member Survey
Staff Interview Questions
Board Member Survey
Board Member Phone Interview
Focus Group Questions
Member Survey
Potential Member Survey
Staff Interview Questions

5. The rationale for using our mission as a filter for decision-making
WHY?
The rationale for using our mission as a filter for decision-making
Members’ connections deepen
Our relationships with members strengthen
Our decision-making process simplifies
Innovation accelerates
Association dollars go further with a refined focus
The needs of target audiences (people) are clarified
Unnecessary processes, products, and services are purposefully abandoned
The specifics as to why we need to use mission as a filter – essentially, the why…

6. RESEARCH COMPLETED 14 board of directors online surveys completed
17 board of directors phone surveys completed
3 focus groups (totaling 24 people)
134 online member surveys completed
45 online potential member surveys completed
6 staff interviews conducted
Kudos to Mark Jones who organized and synthesized much of this and to Dr. Becky Horngerber from our office – research speciality to guard against bias.

7. Working definitions
Vision is a vivid, imaginative conception or view of how the world will look once your purpose has been largely realized
Purpose lies at the intersection of a need in the world and your unique ability to fill it. It is the difference you are trying to make in the world.
Mission is the core strategy that must be undertaken to fulfill that purpose.

8. Julie – 3 min.
Read whole manifersto

9. MISSION AS A FILTER Intentionally Connect Effectively Develop
Sample of mission as a filter (Reading Summit)
Does it intentionally connect? i.e. what is going to be built in to the experience so that our members connect with one another, with experts in the field, and with the information presented?
Does it effectively develop? Are the sessions, presenters, speakers high-quality and research based? Will they add to our members knowledge base?
Is there an opportunity to passionately advocate? While every activity, message etc. doesn’t have to speak to each of these aspects of mission, in this case, the reading summit does give our members a firm grasp of high-quality reading instruction, which will then help them to advocate for students and schools to meet the requirements of the 3rd grade reading guarantee…
Another example – testifying to the legislature
A final example – The Navigator
Intentionally Connect
Effectively Develop
Passionately Advocate

10. The HOW: Where we are now
In order to ensure consistency across service teams in the execution of our mission, we must ensure alignment of our people, processes, products/services, and positioning.
People – Core, direct, and indirect stakeholders (see list)
Processes – how we do what we do
Products/Services – what the association produces/delivers
Positioning – how we communicate who we are and what we do to all stakeholders
20 plus minutes and time to share out
These 4P’s should be found in the collateral of your service team – Evaluate the collateral and evaluate its alignment against the mission (just like the example);
What are the collateral materials for your service team?
Based on the collateral that you have, or the collateral you feel you need, what are the strengths and growth areas for the service team for the school year?
What stories could be told for each service team and who might tell these stories?
Idea – report out on these two questions…using a multi-colored ball of yarn
*Note-taking tool at the tables for this process so that we can collect the ideas and refer back to it.
For communications – is the messaging an interruption or an inspiration? Not just the when and the how but the what. What we send out should be inspirational. Is our message inspirational?