Brand Voice Development for Fifth Ave Committee

Issue Area: Housing Justice, Community Development, Economic Justice

Our Services: Brand Messaging, Content Development, SEO Strategy, Team Training, Website Optimization & Copywriting

Project Overview

Neta Collab partnered with Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing economic, social, and racial justice in New York City, to develop comprehensive brand messaging guidelines and update their website copy. This collaboration transformed how FAC communicates across programs and strengthened their ability to connect with diverse communities.

Client Challenge

As a 45-year-old organization, FAC faced multiple messaging challenges:

• Siloed Communications: Each program team managed its own messaging, leading to inconsistency across the organization

• SEO Underperformance: Their website wasn't appearing in search results, limiting their ability to reach new community members

• Unclear Value Propositions: Program descriptions focused on services without effectively communicating impact

• Website Content Gaps: Their digital presence needed content improvements to effectively showcase their work

• Community Connection: Messaging wasn't consistently reflecting their deep community roots and social justice values

Impact Highlights

• First-page Google rankings for FAC website within one month of revised messaging & SEO changes

• Unified brand voice across all communications

• Improved team confidence in communicating about programs

• Messaging framework that honors their 45-year legacy

• Provided tools that continue to support their mission of advancing economic, social, and racial justice in New York City

• Wrote website copy that reflects their teams legacy, services, and community resources

Examples of Messaging Transformation

Organizational Story: Finding the Compelling Narrative

The Shift: From a timeline to a story. We worked with FAC’s team to write the story of their legacy.

Defining Organizational Values: In Ways That Guide Real Communications

The Shift: Defining abstract values in ways that guide team usage of communication materials consistently. In addition to defining our values, we write clear distinct ways of implementing them across communications.

Program Messaging: Consistency Across All Programs

Audience-Centered Approach: We identified specific pain points and audience insights across programs to craft consistent language that aligns with FAC’s organization voice.

Our Process

Discovery Phase

We began with a comprehensive approach to understand FAC's unique needs:

• Communications Audit: Analyzed existing materials including website content, program descriptions, social media, and print collateral to identify strengths and inconsistencies

• SEO Analysis: Evaluated their digital presence, identifying critical gaps in searchability and online visibility

• Team Worksheets: Distributed tailored questionnaires to capture insights from team members across different programs

• Leadership Workshops: Facilitated in-depth sessions with FAC leadership to define core messaging values and voice characteristics

• Program Analysis: Examined each program's unique audience, pain points, and value drivers

• Competitive Landscape Review: Researched how similar organizations positioned themselves to identify opportunities for differentiation

Development & Implementation

Our collaborative process included:

• Messaging Framework Creation: Developed comprehensive guidelines that defined brand values, voice characteristics, and program-specific messaging

• Website Content Development: Completely rewrote program pages and core website content to align with new messaging while optimizing for SEO

• Team Training: Conducted hands-on workshops to ensure staff could apply the guidelines effectively

• Practical Application Support: Created program-specific examples with real-world applications

Ongoing Support

In addition to our brand messaging guidelines, we work with FAC on:

• Annual Marketing Plans: Developed strategic roadmaps with quarterly check-ins

• Regular Consultations: Maintained ongoing discussions with communications and leadership teams

• Technical SEO Support: Implemented technical improvements to extend the impact of the new messaging

• Performance Monitoring: Tracked key metrics to measure impact and refine strategy

Solution & Deliverables

Comprehensive Messaging Guide

We created a detailed brand messaging guide for internal use that included:

• Refined mission and vision statements

• Six core brand values with detailed explanations and voice applications:

  • Advocacy

  • Empowerment

  • Collaboration

  • Trust

  • Learning

  • Joy

• FAC’s story

• Voice description and examples

• For each program, we developed:

  • Clear program descriptions optimized for both clarity and SEO

  • Target audience analysis

  • Value propositions

  • Key messaging points

  • Content examples

  • Social media templates

• Audience demographics

  • Sample messaging

  • Program language

Technical Implementation

• Website content rewrite with SEO optimization

• Meta descriptions and technical setup

• Strategic keyword integration that preserved authentic voice

Our Team

The following Neta team members were part of our partnership with FAC.

Alexis

Marketing Audit & Strategy

Randy

Research, Writing, & Team Workshops

Ambar

Strategy & Adivsor

Julia

Design

Neta Collab is a marketing and creative agency for social impact.

Are you interested in collaborating?