Shaping a public policy brand together
Plural and New Kind help empower people to unite and engage in democracy
Background
Democracy is built on civic engagement and participation. When citizens get informed and work together, they can shape their country for the better.
Plural gives people, organizations, and companies the tools to do just that. To go beyond simple legislative tracking by using a platform that makes it easy to discover, interpret, and collaborate on public policy. Fostering better engagement in democracy itself.
Industries: B2B Technology, Government, Purpose-Driven Organizations
Services: Identity System, Naming, Positioning, Product Messaging, Storytelling
Why New Kind?
We couldn’t have done it without the team at New Kind. They guided us through the entire process of determining our new brand, including our name, logo and brand manifesto. Five stars!
Carrie Fisher
Vice President of Marketing
The Opportunity
GLOBAL GROWTH DEMANDS ENTERPRISE STRUCTURE
The company was growing rapidly under their startup name and brand. But the team felt it was time to step up to signal enterprise capabilities and worldwide scale.
They were evolving in three key ways that impacted the brand:
- The platform had grown to deliver much more than their core offering of legislative tracking.
- Their open source community, Open States, needed to be sensitively folded into the new brand architecture.
- Global expansion was under consideration, particularly to Nigeria, which required a carefully neutral yet inspiring look and feel.
New Kind’s experience with fast-growing tech companies and open source communities made us a natural fit as we began our work together.
Positioning, Story, Messaging,
and Product Architecture
WORKING TOGETHER TO SHAPE A BRAND THAT SHAPES POLICY
Both teams shared a belief in scaling with soul. From a grounding in open source principles, to a mutual design focus, to a common belief in storytelling — we inspired each other.
Because of that trust, we were able to advance in leaps rather than steps. Presenting prototypes early helped us move through complexity quickly.
Gap analysis and stakeholder interviews informed our leaps. They led us to establish Plural’s positioning as an approach: Shape Policy Together. Not just tracking, or collaborating, or influencing, but everything together in one.
The positioning was complemented by a differentiating tech benefit: Being the policy collaboration platform for predicting and progressing legislation that helps users See, Share, and Shape.
Plural now had their own market category. One dedicated to aligning service and community, and building reliable infrastructure for democracy.
Further messaging and product architecture work helped align the Open States open source community with the spirit of the new story, and created a road map for the brand. Helping shape their future, and the future of their customers.
Naming
OUT OF MANY IDEAS, ONE NAME
The team had the story, messaging, and architecture to define policy shaping to the world. But now they needed a name to amplify it.
Our leap-driven approach was put to the test in the naming process, as we were tasked with finding a new name in only one round of ideation. Naming can be a challenging and emotional process. But once again our mutual willingness to jump together led to a strong outcome.
We evaluated names through the lens of attributes ranging from Modern and Intelligent to Clear and Honest. And through the process, a frontrunner emerged: Plural. Representing exponential impact through democracy and a celebration of government by and for diverse people convinced that there’s a better way to govern.
Logo & Identity System
CRAFTING A BANNER FOR PLURAL AUDIENCES TO RALLY AROUND
Creating a new logo and identity system was the final step for the new Plural brand.
We developed the visual identity hand-in-hand with the positioning, story, and messaging work. We tested directions by bundling them with new iterations of the story, revealing emotional reactions early and getting the team comfortable with a new Plural.
Starting ideas of Reveal, Collaborate, and Shape inspired our logo concepting. The finished product includes inspiration from all three.
The Plural flag, moving from one line to two to three, is a symbol for how technology can empower voices to collaborate to create a stronger democracy. The shapes help signal the collaboration between people, technology, and data. The angles convey movement, an upwards path for democracy.
The flag also hides a double meaning, revealing a subtle P for added brand recall.
The existing color palette, based on bright orange and emerald green, was strong and stood out in the market. We used it as a cornerstone as we evolved and expanded the visual identity to balance startup verve and enterprise solidity.
Outcomes
BRINGING SHARED BELIEFS TO BRILLIANT LIFE
The combined effect at launch was inspiring. The team’s pride and energy while promoting it was clear.
Our shared belief in community engagement, open source, and bringing people together with the tools to shape and influence their futures shone through. And the team continues to roll out new projects, like working with Colin Kaepernick to release a free AI-enabled bill tracking tool.
As Plural CEO Damola Ogundipe said, “It’s time that our brand reflects our current and future state. The public policy professionals that shape the future will use the latest technology to empower many voices, hence the name Plural.”
“Since launching, we’ve worked with hundreds of policymakers, nonprofits, government relations teams, law firms, coalitions, and associations to execute on policy agendas and bring transparency to civic engagement. There is so much more on the horizon.”