Building a brand for change
Blue Engine optimizes the power of team teaching, the approach of having multiple teachers in a classroom in service of a shared outcome for students. After more than a decade of operating in New York City, they were ready to expand to new communities and needed a brand that clarifies their vision for team teaching among district partners and funders.
Bringing clarity to an important mission.
Blue Engine has a clear mission and point of view—they believe when teachers can effectively collaborate, they can individualize learning for every student, regardless of race, income, or learning style. Our challenge was to articulate what team teaching is, why it’s important, and what Blue Engine’s role is in sharing the practice with schools and teachers.
Building unity across the team.
Big Duck collaborated with senior leadership and board members to create a brand strategy built from their organizational objectives, then developed a tagline, visual identity and messaging system that clarified who they are. We brought in staff at key junctures and trained everyone on using the new brand, knowing that they play a significant role in bringing the brand to life.
Setting Blue Engine up for growth.
As they aim to increase their national visibility, Blue Engine also needed to hire new staff who could help make that happen. Big Duck partnered with Blue Engine to think through a new Director of Communications role and draft a job description to develop a communications strategy focused on becoming more well known among potential partners and funders. By collaborating on refreshing the brand and guiding the communications hiring process, Big Duck developed a deep understanding of Blue Engine’s needs and how to set their staff up to communicate clearly, consistently, and in a mission-aligned way.
