California Chamber of Commerce: A champion of business finds brand clarity

Published in Global Brand Identity Design Collection

The century old California Chamber of Commerce is the largest, broadest-based business organization in California. The Chamber has two principal roles: to lobby on behalf of California businesses and to provide products, services, and training to help businesses comply with State and Federal regulations. While viewed positively, many constituents had misperceptions about the California Chamber of Commerce, either misunderstanding its mission or believing that it was affiliated with the myriad of local chambers of commerce.

Challenge

The Chamber looked to Landor to clarify the organization’s positioning for prospective members and to differentiate it from the local chambers, while making the brand more relevant and interesting to the over 1.1 million small business owners in California. The existing equities were strong, yet the brand did not fully project itself as a proactive leader that successfully addresses and champions issues for businesses. The California Chamber of Commerce needed to highlight its foresight as a courageous organization that takes action, not just gives advice, and values inclusiveness among members and internal audiences.

Solution

Utilizing the Brand Driver™ platform, Landor helped The California Chamber of Commerce focus on a core set of motivating beliefs and unify its team, while visually defining how much change would be needed from the past positioning. The Brand Driver, Empowering Business, Enabling Success, inspired both the advocacy and compliance sides. Landor recommended shortening the name to Cal Chamber, common shorthand already in use, to make the brand more contemporary and further distinguish it from local chambers of commerce. The design for the identity system signaled change, reinforced the organization’s mission, and linked its offerings.