CLIENT
FBN (Family Business Network) is the world’s leading organization of business families founded in 1989 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Today FBN is a federation of Member Associations spanning 65 countries, offering business families a safe space to learn from, share with and inspire each other about how to guide the family involvement in the business, facilitating relationships within the family and raising awareness of family business models in society.
A vibrant community, FBN brings together 4,500 business families – encompassing 20,000 individual members of which 8,000 are Next Generation.
In 2023, FBN approached Co-founders for support in the rebranding of one of its communities, FBN Polaris, that had been a pioneer community dedicated to driving forward sustainability family business since 2014. The result was a revitalized community rebranded as FBN Impact with an ambitious program and sustainability resources available for all FBN members worldwide.
SERVICES
– Brand Strategy
– Visual Identity
– Brand Engagement
CHALLENGE
While FBN Polaris had been pushing the agenda around sustainability within the global network of family businesses since 2014, in 2023 the image of the community felt outdated, and its programme had lost its initial energy. There was a need for a fresh start and the right momentum was building, as FBN Polaris was reaching its 10 years of existence in 2024.
PROCESS
We started by interviewing a wide pool of stakeholders to get a clearer understanding of what worked and what didn’t during the past decade of FBN Polaris events and actions helping family businesses become more sustainable. We gained a tremendous amount of insight that was later translated into strategic drivers and clear action points that were needed to pave the future of this community in a way that it could serve its members better.
To further assess the best avenue in terms of the re-branding strategy and programme, our team at Co-founders facilitated a live workshop in Geneva, where we discussed different scenarios together with key FBN members from different countries.
What followed was an iterative process to articulate a new name, a refreshed brand strategy and a clearer sustainability programme for FBN Polaris, which became FBN Impact.
“We had a great experience working with the Co-founders team on repositioning our sustainability work to the broader concept of Impact. They were able to distill a broad range of inputs and feedback from a diverse set of stakeholders into a compelling and engaging narrative. When we launched the new positioning at our global summit, it resonated strongly with our community, and we have been able to build significant momentum for our work ever since.” Andrew Bryson, Chief Impact & Innovation Officer, The Family Business Network International
OUTCOMES
FBN Impact was re-launched as a community that aims towards impact at scale, harnessing the power of family businesses to become a part of the solution and co-create create systemic change for a more sustainable future for our people and planet.
As a result of this process, FBN Impact now has a renewed visual identity and a clear brand strategy that keeps the focus on what is important. Four drivers were defined to lead the new FBN Impact programme: Business, Investment, Philanthropy, and Advocacy. Based on these drivers, its key objectives are to:
- Help families start or accelerate the four drivers of change through learning opportunities
- Create open spaces to drive strategic philanthropy & impact investments
- Advocate for collective action and demonstrate the positive role that business families play in society
The relaunch in the autumn of 2023 in Paris was received with enthusiasm by the global FBN members and the programme has been rolling out and further developing during 2024.
