Uniting Communities Around Drug Abuse Prevention

THE WORK

Organization website:
candleinc.org

A Mother Launches a Sustainable and Affordable Drug Abuse Prevention Program in Communities Across the Nation

What started out as one mother’s idea to prevent drug abuse in her community is now an evidence-based prevention program serving over 50,000 parents and children. Norma Norris saw the impact drug abuse was having on her community and heard the voices of other parents wanting help now. She left her full-time career behind to launch a nonprofit organization focused on preventing youth substance abuse in every community. Bringing together parents, students, educators, and community volunteers, Reality Tour creates one powerful experience that is intended to help teens address the pressures facing them today.

CHALLENGES & GOALS

There had been a demographic and psychographic shift in their target audience since the launch of Reality Tour 20 years ago. The brand and messaging felt too reminiscent of 80s and 90s campaigns and needed an update.
The brand needed to appeal to three distinct audience groups – community organizations, educators and parents and their children.
The brand wasn’t fully representing the hope they bring to communities and the positive impacts left behind.

THE STRATEGY

We collaborated with leadership on a brand audit and strategy to better reach three distinct target audiences. In addition to offering an experience, Reality Tour also offered drug test kits and resources to parents and educators. We needed to tie everything together so the brand felt more cohesive, up-to-date, and connected to the pressures facing today’s generations. We worked with Candle Inc on a roadmap of actionable steps to take, including updating their visual identity, messaging, and voice. We built a website that provided a much improved user experience, better accessibility, and a clear story audiences could connect with.

I’m a board member for a nonprofit organization and hired Tansy Aster Creative to refresh our brand. Tara did a fantastic job! It’s a good feeling see our organization in this new light. The way Tara was able to capture our mission was truly inspirational. We were very impressed with her professionalism, adaptability and expertise in taking our brand to this next level. We truly feel this is the right direction and Tara was the right fit for us. She is such a pleasure to work with. Highly recommend for your brand and storytelling needs!

Liv B.

Board Member, CANDLE Inc

Identity & Messaging

We updated CANDLE, Inc’s brand foundation and messaging, including a new mission and vision statement, new taglines, new value propositions, and a refreshed, more approachable voice. In addition, we updated their visual identity, using a color scheme that better reflected the hope they bring to communities and how engaging their events can be.