MacIver Institute Rebrands with Signalfire
Signalfire is proud to announce the launch of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy’s new brand and website. The collaboration between Signalfire and MacIver Institute has produced a new logo, an original tagline as well as a fresh identity. In developing the new website, Signalfire has built a content managed site that allows a combination of dynamic and static mixed media content to be delivered to the user in an organized and thoughtful fashion. Additional features such as secure donations, email newsletters and social media integration makes MacIver Institute a leader in state political analysis and reporting.
“We’re proud to have worked with MacIver Institute’s operations team as well as the Board of Directors,” says Matthew B. Olson, President of Signalfire. “The working dynamic and ongoing relationship with MacIver Institute will be an exciting one as we push forward with new projects.”
The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy approached Signalfire in the Fall of 2009 with a challenge. As a political-think tank, how could MacIver Institute brand themselves effectively while delivering academic-quality political policy research and investigative reporting. Their web presence would require incredible organization as well as an easy user interface. All of this needed to be packaged into a clean, contemporary design feel that moved away from the usual “screen-fulls of text”.
Developing a contemporary feel to a area traditionally populated by columns and classic images pushes the bounds of what consumers expect. When developing the logo and tagline, Signalfire took extra effort not to get too far from the brand recognition currently held by their interest community. Yet, part of MacIver Institute’s mission is to develop content valuable to the everyday person and not just politicians, pundits, and fellow academics. This is where the development of “mi” (my) came to life.
Intellectual branding was important to MacIver Institute and the development of mi: reports, mi: perspectives and others brings their name to the forefront of political research and reporting. These branded categories of information are not just silos of loosely-linked data, but cohesive sub-brands that give MacIver Institute’s consumers a solid sense of what the material relates to and how it relates to the overall mission on MacIver Institute.
Forging a new website from an old one presented challenges and opportunities for Signalfire to develop creative ideas. From a user-friendly administrative interface allowing MacIver Institute administrators to manage a full spectrum of content to integrating popular social media elements the website has quickly become a powerful tool in their informational and fund-raising arsenal. Features such as dynamic importing of YouTube videos, Twitter feed and complete mobile browsing compliance has made MacIver Institute’s website all the more useful to followers regardless of platform or locale.
To visit the new website, please click here.
MacIver Institute indicated from the beginning the desire to expand from text-based content into numerous other mediums. Key in this was video. With the addition of an investigative reporting team, MacIver Institute also began producing original video content. By placing it on YouTube, it allowed for greater search engine visibility as well as being brought in dynamically to the site.
With the brand launched and the website live, MacIver is forging ahead with an aggressive email newsletter / marketing effort to help bring critical content to the hands of the people. By coordinating every touchpoint with social media, donation opportunities, and branded content, MacIver is quickly building an intellectual brand that will stand above the rest. Signalfire is proud to be their partner moving forward.
