Most organizations that go by an acronym keep a
translation handy so prospective members know
what those letters stand for. Not P.E.O. What’s the
explanation? There isn’t one: It’s a secret.
P.E.O. began in 1869 as a college sorority, a
sisterhood of young women. During this era, keeping
“secrets” was a common way to create bonds of
friendship. Today, the Iowa-based organization has
over 6,000 chapters in North America, and boasts
membership of more than 250,000. While members
continue to honor the founders by keeping the literal
meaning of P.E.O. private, the group had been
exploring the idea that they were too quiet about
their work: A philanthropic organization, P.E.O.
helps women achieve educational goals by providing
grants, scholarships, awards, and loans.
I am a P.E.O., and I live in Des Moines, where
our international headquarters is located. In late
2003, the executive board invited me to an informal
meeting to discuss the public perception of the
organization. This gathering led to a complete image
overhaul led by my firm, Sayles Graphic Design.
Publicity issues
Eschewing publicity and public recognition, P.E.O.
had deliberately steered clear of the spotlight for 137
years. While certainly a noble approach, this posture
has had the side effect of limiting membership
potential as well as restricting the group’s sphere
of influence. Unlike other charitable community
groups such as Rotary or Kiwanis, P.E.O. is virtually
unknown outside of its membership.
Because a more proactive publicity policy would
be such a major shift in the organization’s culture, a
comprehensive planning process would be key to a
successful transition. After my initial meeting with
the executive board, I suggested we hold a retreat,
a day-long discussion about P.E.O.’s current public
persona and how to go about moving forward
with change. Held off-site at a local hotel, the event
included only those essential to the process: the volunteer
executive board, the salaried executive director,
and myself, acting as facilitator.
Facilitating
My experience is that off-site planning sessions generally
are successful when the group is a manageable
size (usually fewer than 10 participants) and attendees
are genuinely open-minded about potential outcomes.
For P.E.O., I created an agenda and led the
group through a combination of exercises, facilitated
discussions, and brainstorming activities. Our session
ended with the consensus that individual chapters
should be encouraged to be more high profile.
We also determined that there were actually two
separate issues that should be addressed. One was the
need to develop an updated look for publications and
promotional materials in order to give P.E.O. a more
contemporary and approachable image. A second,
related, and equally important matter was how to
announce the relaxed publicity policy and introduce
the updated visual direction to the membership in a
way that would be easily understood and embraced.
A theme breaks through
During the course of our retreat a phrase kept coming
up as the group discussed ways for the organization
to grow and prosper in the future. Reviewing
the notes from that day’s meeting, I found I had
written no fewer than four times: “It’s OK to talk
about P.E.O.” Sometimes the best ideas come from
the mouth of the client sitting right in front of you!
Later, back at Sayles Graphic Design, my staff concurred
that the phrase could work as a theme for the
internal communications campaign.
There were two built-in vehicles we had at our
disposal for communicating to the P.E.O. membership:
a bimonthly magazine and the group’s annual
international convention—in 2005, it was to be held
in Vancouver, B.C. The magazine, The P.E.O. Record,
would allow us to reach the entire sisterhood with no
added cost to the organization.
We decided to first launch a “teaser” campaign
in The Record. The message of the first phase of the
promotion was simply “It’s OK,” and my partner,
John Sayles, designed print ads with this theme in
varying sizes for use in the publication. John treated
the “It’s OK” message as a graphic, placing it inside
a circle, and—to add additional visual appeal and
intrigue to the ads—included portraits of P.E.O.’s
seven founders. Because the portraits were already
familiar to members, this approach gave the impression
that the “It’s OK” message was “endorsed” by
the original seven.
Upon their arrival in Vancouver, delegates and
guests at the 2005 International Convention of the
P.E.O. Sisterhood were exposed to even more “It’s
OK” messages. From hotel room key holders to artfully
placed signs and even little mint candies, the
“It’s OK” idea appeared to be everywhere! The inescapable
messages had the desired effect of creating a
substantial buzz within the delegation: Everyone was
guessing what the phrase meant.
Unveiling the message
The first evening of the convention, delegates were
shown a humorous three-minute video—essentially
a continuation of the teaser campaign—that ended
with the phrase “to be continued.” At a business
meeting the next morning, the rest of the message
was unveiled and attendees were told “It’s OK to
Talk About P.E.O.”
Once the entire idea was revealed, the “It’s
OK” materials blanketing the convention site were
converted to the full message. Delegates were given
brochures, calling cards, hand fans, and other items
with the new P.E.O. corporate identity on them.
Immediately after the announcement a special luncheon
was held, during which a guest facilitator
led the delegation in a group brainstorm of ways
to implement the new policies and materials at the
chapter level.
The “It’s OK to Talk About P.E.O.” campaign
was designed to act as a preview for a new P.E.O.
corporate identity … without actually revealing it.
The color palette of magenta, lime, and yellow we
created for the teaser program was also the color
scheme for the permanent identity. The flower
graphic that punctuates the new logo is the same
one that appeared inside the O of OK in the teaser
program. This approach had many positive results,
including a visual continuity that ran from the teaser
campaign to the introduction of the new corporate
identity. An added bonus was lower print production
costs: Because the color palettes were the same, print
items from the identity program could be in the
same run as convention materials.
Full flower
As a next step in the process of working with
P.E.O., I scheduled a post mortem or evaluation session
with the board. This meeting will take place
approximately three months after use of the new
materials has begun within the organization. Like
the initial retreat session that kicked off the process,
a focused strategy session at this point will ensure all
of us are on the same page, and that everything is
still truly “OK.”
SIDEBAR: Before & After
1. Old logo/banner
As with many organizations
that have
been around a long
time, P.E.O.’s identity
elements had become
somewhat tired and
lacked continuity. Yet
the organization did
not want to lose the
equity it had invested
in its symbolism.
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2. New logo/banner
Not wanting to abandon
the past altogether,
designer John
Sayles chose a
marguerite as part of
P.E.O.’s new identity;
the daisy look-alike
has been the group’s
official symbol since
its founding in 1869.
Upon the new logo’s
introduction, members
were told that it “is
not meant to replace
the historic ‘star’
emblem, but rather
serves as an alternate
way of identifying our
sisterhood.”
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3. Colors
The palette chosen for
P.E.O.’s identity—PMS
584, 208, and 116—is
fresh and contemporary,
yet retains a connection
with history
and tradition.
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