After months of anticipation since it was revealed at the W.A.C.E. annual conference, the new “The Chamber Is…” advertising campaign has been released to W.A.C.E. members.
Birth of the 3Cs
The campaign is a result of the “Defining the Promise of the Chamber of Commerce in the 21st Century” study that was released by BrandBirth at the 2017 W.A.C.E. annual conference.
According to the study, chambers exist to be the Catalyst for business growth, the Convener for leaders and influencers, and the Champion for stronger communities. This was the birth of the 3Cs.
Much like any organization that performs a study, the next question revolved around what to do with the information. After a lot of discussion, the W.A.C.E. Board of Directors approved the proposal to move forward with the creation of an ad campaign that would help chambers live the 3C brand and communicate it to their members. More importantly, the campaign was designed to create a consistent brand for chambers industry wide.
Ad Creation
The campaign took a straightforward approach at answering the question, “What does a chamber do?” BrandBirth crafted ads that boldly proclaim “The Chamber Is…” with 10 options of “C” words and accompanying copy to answer that question.
The 10 words include: commitment, change, credibility, connection, collaboration, community, current, culture, counsel, and courage.
After the ads were developed, there needed to be a way for W.A.C.E. members to customize and implement these words into their own branding strategies. The decision was to create what BrandBirth called an “Ad Wizard,” which allows chambers to choose which “C” word best fits their chamber, choose an ad size that meets their needs, add their chamber logo and website, and choose a photo from the library of images or upload their own. The result is the ability to download a customizable ad in a high-resolution, print-ready PDF.
“As a communications professional that has been in the chamber industry for more than 15 years, this is one of the most innovative things I’ve seen,” said W.A.C.E. Vice President Russell Lahodny. “You don’t need to be a graphic designer or know how to use Adobe software to be able to create a professional ad campaign for your chamber. This is revolutionary for our industry.”
The Ad Wizard is available to W.A.C.E. members only and requires a one-time $50 licensing fee for the initial ads, which includes terms and agreements that chambers will not alter any of the copyrighted materials beyond what the Ad Wizard allows and will not share their access with neighboring chambers.
Access to the Ad Wizard is available at wizard.waceonline.com.