Colorado Public Radio

brand situation

In 2009, Colorado Public Radio sought to update its brand’s position and identity in the Colorado market place to better reflect its unique value, both to listeners and underwriters.

Part of the challenge facing CPR was its prior establishment of each station as a separate and distinct brand. Using station call letters and format as primary elements of the identity provided little opportunity to establish equity or value in the umbrella CPR brand. As CPR looked to its future, with a desire to expand service offering, increase use via new mediums, and grow a new audience of listeners and underwriters, the organization understood its need for a brand evolution.

In collaboration with Denver-based design firm Design & Image, Darwin was hired to develop a refreshed brand positioning and messaging platform that would drive development of a new logo, website, and collateral system.

brand evolution

Darwin began by implementing a “Sense of Place” study among current CPR members to gain insight into what it meant to be part of the Colorado community, and what role CPR played in fostering that community.

From the insight we were able to understand CPR’s compelling distinction and value, which we then incorporated into the positioning and messaging platform.

In addition to positioning, Darwin developed a brand architecture for CPR, which outlined how to attribute and align each entity within the CPR family. Shifting the focus off of individual stations to the umbrella CPR brand enabled the organization to expand its services to different formats and begin establishing equity in the master CPR brand.

brand expression

As a result of the new brand architecture and positioning platform CPR was in need of a refreshed brand identity, including a method for aligning the individual station brands. CPR selected D&I for this important phase of rebranding, and Darwin collaborated with their visual branding team to ensure the new logo, look and feel was on-strategy.

The refreshed CPR brand position focused on the concept of balanced dialogue, and the new logo incorporates an iconic element that is part quotation mark, part person in the midst of conversation. The circle of quotation marks within the logo represents the concept of dialogue among listeners within the Colorado community.

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