Virtual Learning Collaborative (VLC), a global leader in virtual training and support, wanted to more accurately represent their growing business and stand out in a crowded vertical. Their goal was to better align their brand identity with the high-touch service they are known for, while honoring the legacy of their founders.
We teamed up with our friends at Approach Marketing for this work. Together, we went on an extensive brand strategy journey with VLC. Through our in-depth client research and competitive analysis, we identified VLC’s relationship-centric approach as what makes them unique. That’s how we arrived at their new mission statement: “To make virtual learning more human.”
Because our client was focused on making learning more human-centered, it made a lot of sense to give the company a human name. Elsie feels relatable, familiar and represents “learning collaborative” in a much more subtle way.
Our talented friends at Honey Creative helped us implement Elsie’s new brand identity by designing a new visual identity, complete with a new logo and a new website.
The colors, fonts, and illustrations were carefully created to reflect the playfulness and relationship-driven approach of the Elsie team.
We also chose to give Elsie a mascot named “El” to represent their global team of virtual training producers. El is cheerful, charming, and wears a headset like every Elsie facilitator & producer wears, embodying the personalized service ethos of the organization.
Elsie’s transformation was met with enthusiasm and pride, both internally and externally. Their clients have raved about the new brand and have held Elsie up as a shining example for how to rebrand well. Elsie now commands attention in a crowded marketplace of similar-looking brands and is well-positioned for additional growth.
“We love everything about our new brand. In many ways, it feels like we’ve always been Elsie because the team took such care building a brand that so perfectly reflects what we’ve built. Involving our entire team in the rebranding process was the best thing we could have done — it created a huge source of pride internally and gave us more confidence in how we show up as a company.
The results have been tangible. Since launching the brand, it’s helped us attract new opportunities and clients. And our existing clients have loved it too — one called it the ‘best brand transition I’ve seen,’ and another said, ‘Everything you are putting out right now — the people, the warmth, the communications — screams “I want to work with them!”’
The entire process was such a great experience. We continue to rave about the branding to everyone we meet!”
— Elizabeth Beales, CEO
