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Brand Identity and Employee Engagement as a Unifying Element and Change Management Tool

The United States Mint

Michael StojsavljevichFormer Chief Strategy Officer United States Mint2007-2011

Matthew HussStrategy DirectorSeigel+Gale

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The United States Mint• A government agency and an integral

component of the Treasury Department:

• Self-sustaining• Returns positive seigniorage (profit)

annually to Treasury• Nearly $4 billion in revenue in FY2010

• over $400 million in seigniorage in FY2010

• Main products are coins;• Circulating• Gold • Silver• Commemorative

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The United States Mint Pre-brand identity exploration state:

• Aging brand profile, unclear brand and product positioning was disengaging employees and visible in several areas:

• Mission and operating focus was changing, straining the brand promise

• Brand architecture was meeting several demands and becoming fragmented

• A workforce reduction plan had employees concerned about transparency and employment

• A brand voice was not present

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The United States MintPre-Brand Initiative

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The United States MintPre-Brand Initiative Fragmentation

• Each logo was being treated with the same importance and visually all the logos seem to exist on the same level

• Various logos appeared to be a stand-alone identity

Opportunity: create a rational visual architecture and signature system

June 7, 2010

Copyright © 2010 United States Mint, Department of the Treasury p6

Becoming a team and playing together was critical to becoming a world-class organization

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What We Did:Engage Employees First

• Step 1: Establish one brand promise that was authentic and reflected employees perspectives

• Step 2: Let a brand voice come through that reflected the history and pride employees felt and carried with them throughout their work day while producing these products.

• Step 3: Outline values that guide behavior, build trust and foster a team spirit

• Step 4: Create a visual architecture that reflects the brand promise, values and voice but was also a unifying force that had buy in from employees and created a team spirit.• A team must like its uniform and help design it!

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How We Did It:

• Make it an inclusive and transparent process

• Solicit employee input into the creative design process• (A first for most employees, but symbolic of

positive change)

• Gather public input into the final design component

• Worked with our agency as an equal thought partner and leverage their creative talents• Rare for government agencies and vendors!

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United States Mint

PromiseConnecting America through Coins

VoiceWarmEngagingClearConfident

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The United States Mint

The Design Process Steps:A Creative Exploration on “How We Look”

Step 1: Creating a Visual Architecture by Encouraging Creative License at the Agency

Step 2: Funneling down to a Mint management perspective

Step 3: Employee engagement

Step 4: Public comment

Step 5: Final

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Creative developmentCoin flip

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Creative developmentCoin flip

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Creative developmentThe people’s Mint

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Creative developmentThe people’s Mint

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Creative developmentSymbol of excellence

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Creative developmentSymbol of excellence

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Client presentation 1

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The United States Mint

“Funneling down to the Mint Zone by thinking of the promise and the voice, which is warm, clear, confident and engaging”

Coin flip

Coin flip

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The aura that unites us

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The aura that unites us

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Seal of authenticity

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Seal of authenticity

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Presentation

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The United States Mint

Engaging dialogue and opinions from US Mint employees distilled our creative efforts even further

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Design refinements

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The United States Mint

Finally, the Coin Flip was modified based on public commentary to ensure all internal and external stakeholders had their say and we had a fully transparent process

Innovation

June 7, 2010

30Copyright © 2010 United States Mint, Department of the Treasury

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The United States MintFinal Coin Flip Results:

1.) Engagement and transparency created team spirit that led to easy implementation

2.) Internally, this engagement process improved performance and internal engagement measures, but also became the foundation for achieving results in several other management initiatives

3.) Externally, the United States Mint was named 2011 Rebrand “Best of Award” Winner

A rare achievement for a government agency but nonetheless a function of engagement