Boldly Going – a new Chamber brand

After more than a year of work and preparation, your Chamber is undergoing a complete rebrand. This means a new Chamber logo, tagline, website, social media, marketing collateral. As of the Citizen of the Year and Annual Dinner held on April 18, we are now the Greater Manchester Chamber and we’ve unveiled our new logo.

I want to share with you why we are choosing to rebrand now and what it means for the future of your Chamber.

First, it was time! It has been more than 15 years since the Chamber last substantially changed the look and feel of its logo and more than 10 years since a change to our tagline. The truth is, as an organization, we’ve been slow to change and evolve throughout our history. In the 108 years of the Chamber’s existence we’ve only had 5 logos! Changing every 15 to 20 years is simply not nimble enough for an organization that represents a business community that is always growing and evolving.

The timing for us to take on this project was perfect given that the Chamber, with the guidance and direction of its Board of Directors, recently updated its strategic plan, mission, and vision statement.

MISSION

We are the voice of business, shaping economic success to enhance the quality of life in Greater Manchester

VISION

Greater Manchester is a vibrant and prosperous destination for business and people

Second, to accomplish our mission, the Chamber needs a brand that authentically represents who we are and where our community is going. Our old branding focuses more on conveying what we are and where we are, which in of itself was not a bad thing. Yes, we are a chamber and we serve greater Manchester and a mill building is an iconic symbol of our economic past, present, and future. What’s missing in this brand, however, is what we stand for and why we exist. Simply put, we needed a new brand that communicated our “why.”

As you can read above, our mission reads “We are the voice of business, shaping economic success to enhance the quality of life in Greater Manchester.” This idea is central to why our members invest in the Chamber. We all share a belief that working together we can positively shape the direction of our community and region to the benefit of all businesses and residents. We know that is a big and bold mission, which is why we needed a new brand that connects to that idea and helps us communicate it to our members and the community.

The new logo represents the idea behind our mission and purpose perfectly – transformation, impact, moving forward, and setting a bold vision for the future of our community. We also chose a new tagline – Boldly Going – to further connect the big picture mission of the Chamber’s to everything we do. Whether its advocating for your business at City Hall or the State House, planning a networking event, or attracting a new business to the community through our economic development work, we attack every part of our work with a “Boldly Going” attitude. “Boldly Going” is an attitude and sense of purpose that is grounded in the belief that the Chamber exists to keep our community moving toward an ambitious and prosperous vision of the future.

We’re excited to have you join us on this journey and to share all the changes and new opportunities to come. Most importantly, thank you for your continued support of the Greater Manchester Chamber! Together, we are Boldly Going.