Expeditionary Learning

New:  Shortened name, new logo, more independence

Launched:  August, 2010

Story in brief:
As master of personal growth and social skills education in wilderness settings, "Outward Bound" is a superbrand.  Its Expeditionary Learning unit, however, applies that mastery in very different setting, not in the woods but in American classrooms – specifically, in the 129 public and private schools in 29 U.S. states who currently contract the unit to train and support its teachers in its high-impact "learning expedition" methodology, which produces consistently extraordinary and sustainable whole-school performance improvements. The unit's identity problem: perception of its classroom mission was smothered by the power of the parent brand's association with the wilderness.

This was a problem I could not fully solve seven years ago when Greg Farrell, passionate founder and then President of "Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound" sought help in untangling this confusion between Expeditionary Learning and its parent brand. The larger and more immediate problem, I concluded, was technical weakness in the parent's own identity that inhibited Outward Bound's ability to broaden its purpose. Make Outward Bound a  stronger, clearer parent, I said, to which Expeditionary Learning could then more effectively contrast (and contribute) its difference.

So we did that. With Nat Connacher's help we redesigned Outward Bound USA. We then added "Schools" to the Expeditionary Learning name, giving it a signature that could promote its proud Outward Bound heritage, while more clearly expressing and its own autonomous mission. (See the 2005 Outward Bound case history.)

For Outward Bound itself, this 2005 rebranding was invigorating, but for Greg Farrell's unit it was only a partial fix – a band-aid. The "wilderness" association still hindered appreciation of Expeditionary Learning's potential importance in the school reform movement. A new leader, Scott Hartl, decided to take definitive rebranding action, and for guidance retained the New York design agency Thinkso Creative, who had previously worked with his new marketing associate Lili Brown.

Hartl, Brown and Thinkso made a number of right choices, the most important (and difficult) being to virtually eliminate Outward Bound's endorsement. (It's still to be seen, "a chartered entity of Outward Bound" in small type.) That made it easier to drop the slightly misleading "Schools," no longer needed to establish "not wilderness,"  thus refocusing on the core concept rather than its community of customers. The third right choice was to use a symbol (especially appropriate given the still-lengthy name), in this case a forward-pointing sign or pennant, containing a monogram E.

CEO Hartle explains his intent: "The new brand will unite us visually and position our schools, as well as our national organization, to compete for the resources and attention that our work deserves. It will also boost awareness and recognition among educators, school districts, policy makers, foundations and donors, and parents."

Credits:
C.E.O. - Scott Hartl
C.M.O. - Lili Brown, Chief Advancement Officer
Identity design - Thinkso Creative
 

First Impressions:
Strategy:  It's rare that a parent brand is so strong for itself, yet wrong enough for a subbrand to smother it. It took courage for Expeditionary Learning's board to fix that, and graciousness for Outward Bound's board to approve the fix.
Design:  The symbol is engaging, appropriate, and effectively brings the long name to life. I like the action of the 'E' as a counterforce to 'EL,' which will happen anyway but need not be encouraged.

Corporate Brand Matrix ratings:  
0% structural,  100% strategic,  0% functional (est.)