PURPOSE
This brand manual was created to help you understand the Toastmasters International brand. We believe that when you use these standards, the Toastmasters International brand becomes stronger. These branding standards will help us to communicate one consistent Toastmasters-identity that is recognizable wherever you may be and accurately symbolizes the benefits of this great organization we are all proud to be a part of.
Toastmasters International district and club leader brand manual
Inside these pages you’ll find new positioning and a new tagline for Toastmasters International. We used our fundamental mission, vision and our purpose as the foundation to develop these new pieces.
We are excited as we look to the future of Toastmasters International and our strategic initiative to create a consistent look and feel for our organization worldwide. It will soon be a brand that is recognized in countries around the world by the color, the content and the symbol used to communicate who we are.
BRAND DEFINITIONS
1 What is a brand?
A brand is an exclusive and desirable idea embodied in products, places, services, people and experiences.
2 What is a brand vision?
The way we want customers to think of our brand in the future.
3 What is a brand strategy?
The plan that identifies short and long-term objectives, key brand initiatives, tactics and measures of success. The brand strategy determines how we implement and express the Toastmasters brand.
4 What is brand positioning?
What people envision when they think of our brand. It is the space we want to occupy in the minds of our existing and potential members.
5 What is a positioning statement?
The place in the market that is uniquely yours to claim.
6 What is a value proposition?
The primary benefit a brand provides to its target audience.
7 What is a tagline?
A concise, consistent way to communicate an organization’s value proposition to the general public.
8 What is a logo?
A graphic symbol designed to represent the brand.
BENEFITS OF USING THE NEW BRAND
• Increase pride in being a Toastmaster
• “Big picture” purpose
• District and club objectives will be easier to achieve
• Communications will be more compelling with messaging and design following the new Toastmasters brand
• The benefits of Toastmasters will be communicated consistently; this increases shared understanding and global awareness
BRAND HERITAGE
A Basement Brainstorm
When people hear the word “basement” they’re more likely to picture mold and spiders than the birth place of a global communication and leadership training organization. But a basement in a YMCA in Santa Ana, California, is exactly where, in 1924, Dr. Ralph C. Smedley held the first meeting of what would eventually become Toastmasters International.
Dr. Smedley began working as director of education for a Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) after he graduated from college. He observed that many of the young patrons needed “training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings” and Dr. Smedley wanted to help them. He decided the training format would be similar to a social club. During the early 1900s the word “toastmaster” referred to a person who proposed the toasts and introduced the speakers at a banquet. Dr. Smedley named his group
“The Toastmasters Club” because he thought it suggested a pleasant, social atmosphere appealing to young men.
When Dr. Smedley started the Toastmasters group at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, members practiced speaking skills in a supportive, informal atmosphere. The seedling club blossomed. Word spread about Dr. Smedley’s YMCA experiment and soon people in other communities and even other states began asking for permission and help to start their own Toastmasters meetings. By 1930 the burgeoning clubs had established a federation to help coordinate activities and provide a standard program. Toastmasters
became Toastmasters International after a speaking club in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, expressed interest in joining the organization.
Over the next six decades the number of Toastmasters grew, and so did the need for a larger staff to service them. World Headquarters relocated in 1990 to its new building in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, about 20 miles south of Santa Ana.
The evolution of its educational programs and resources are the essential elements behind Toastmasters International’s success and growth. Training has expanded from the 15-project manual Basic Training for Toastmasters, developed by Dr. Smedley, to include other materials to help members develop skills in listening, giving feedback, decision-making, delegating and mentoring.
With over 13,000 clubs and more than 270,000 members in 113 countries, Dr. Ralph Smedley’s “basement brainstorm” continues to thrive in the 21st century.