21 Dec Even Logo Families Can Be Broken
With 265,00 square feet of meeting space, The National Conference Center is one of the largest conference centers in the country. They can handle groups of up to 1,800 people and can completely customize their space for their customers – even allowing groups to brand entire buildings or sections of buildings as their own.
Over the last decade, The National has marketed its ballroom, West Belmont Place (the largest in Northern Virginia), separately from its conference center — with a different website and a different identity. The thinking was that couples seeking a beautiful wedding venue are a far different audience from those seeking an educational or training facility. However, the brand separation created more work for The National’s staff and caused confusion in the marketplace.
In addition to West Belmont Place, The National features an extraordinary food and beverage program, highlighted by its Black Olive Bar & Grill, as well as a stimulating Challenge Course offering both high and low elements for team-building activities. Each of these entities has its own unique logo.
When The National hired WilsonMcGuire Creative to review their goals and objectives and come up with a comprehensive marketing plan, our first step was to develop a new brand strategy. After doing some research and analyzing web traffic, it was evident that The National Conference Center needed to clarify what it was and what it offered.
We rebranded The National as a hospitality and educational destination in Loudoun County, Virginia that consists of four distinct product entities:
- The National Conference Center
- West Belmont Place Events Center
- Black Olive Bar & Grill
- Challenge Course at the National
The four different entities exist on their own but also work together in a synergistic way to offer customers and clients a superior experience. As part of this rebranding effort, we designed and created a family of brands, inspired by The National Conference Center logo and unified through a shared look and feel.
The new approach, embraced by staff and clients alike, is working hard to clarify all the parts of The National Conference Center. And, with a new unified website on the horizon, The National Conference Center is just getting started!