Featured Services: Rebranding // Messaging // Search Engine Optimization
Chariot: Reimagining Drive a Senior Central Texas
There are thousands of drive-a-senior programs out there, but they’re not all Nana-worthy.
When this project came across my inbox from the Upbeat Marketing team, I was thrilled. Contributing to the rebranding process is a special treat, and a responsibility I cherish every time. And this client, formerly Drive a Senior Central Texas, has a wonderful, long-standing reputation. They are totally Nana-worthy, and they were ready to embark on a full rebrand. They wanted a new name, tagline, logo, look and feel… they were ready to reimagine how their organization presents to the world. The Upbeat Marketing team and I were ready to give this organization a profound makeover.
My role was to collaborate with Upbeat’s CEO on a new name and tagline for Drive a Senior Central Texas. The options we presented needed to be legally available, great for SEO, appealing to all of the organization’s audiences, a clear departure from the current brand, and strategically in line with the organization’s long-term vision.
The discovery process for a rebrand is extremely in-depth.
Through the Upbeat team’s expert discovery process, we dug into the organization’s history, plans for the future, competitive positioning, core personality, and key differentiators. Operating in a pool of other drive-a-senior programs, Drive a Senior Central Texas needed to stand out from both non-profit and for-profit competitors. A few qualities really set them apart programmatically, but you wouldn’t have known it from their name or branding:
Through discovery, we learned that:
This organization runs on volunteers who genuinely enjoy providing rides to seniors
The rides they provide are completely free, without sacrificing quality or reliability
Individual rides and group van rides all include a major emphasis on social interaction
Drive a Senior Central Texas had the heart of a local nonprofit and the organizational smarts of a seasoned organization ready to grow. They were offering something bigger than just a ride: a fun, free experience to fulfill seniors’ physical and social needs simultaneously. Their new brand needed to convey all of this!
So we brainstormed names. Dozens of names.
The new name needed to guide all other brand elements. It needed to appeal to seniors, their children, donors, and volunteers. It needed to sing on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and full van and bus wrappers. It needed to express joy, dignity, reliability, and quality. This was not your grandmother’s drive-a-senior program. 😉
I generated dozens of names and Upbeat’s CEO did the same. For days we ran words and phrases by each other, shared articles, and suggested iterations of each other’s ideas. We consistently checked the national trademark database and Googled our name ideas to make sure they would check out legally and perform well in search results. This process always eliminates a lot of options!
Shout out to my soon-to-be husband, Aidan; We were living in an RV during this project, so he was very involved in the brainstorming process! It was in a conversation with him, in the third or fourth round of brainstorming when the line “Your chariot awaits” came to me. We were discussing “The Golden Age,” “Golden Oldies,” and modes of transportation that evoke honor and dignity. When “Chariot” surfaced, the name clicked into place. It worked for so many reasons. It checked all the boxes.
Oftentimes in this process, your favorite name option is not the option the client chooses. When presenting three to five names to a client, it’s important to stay as neutral as possible. They need to love it. This time, without telling them as much, the client shared my favorite. It’s a wonderful feeling when this happens!
A handful of tagline options were in the mix, too.
We presented name and tagline variations together because seeing these combinations helps a client imagine their new name in context. Taglines provide important information about the organization that isn’t clear from the name alone.
We all loved “we’re driving you’re thriving” because of the sing-songy flow and the warmth it conveys. This tagline speaks directly to the prospective client, not about them, which is a big shift from “Drive a Senior Central Texas.” In this context, speaking directly to the client with the use of “you” is the ultimate display of both respect and friendliness. We were handing the power to the passenger—extending a direct invitation to take them where they need to go and ensure they enjoy the ride.
The Chariot team deserves big kudos. They were extremely thoughtful during this name and tagline selection process. They really listened to our guidance and expertise, and to each other’s opinions and reasoning. We were the marketing and brand experts, they were the program and audience experts, and true teamwork led us to a new brand identity that everyone was thrilled with.
With the name and tagline selected, Upbeat Marketing brought Chariot to life.
I contributed feedback on some early logo designs and color palettes, but this was where the design gurus took over. Everyone has strong opinions about visual design, and at this stage of the process, too many cooks in the kitchen can burn the soup! The client needed to love the new look and feel, and most importantly, they needed to feel confident that their clients and volunteers would love it. After some initial feedback, I was happy to step away and await the final product.
Now, Chariot is live!
I was honored to participate in this rebrand for such a deserving organization in partnership with a top-notch design firm. I hope the Chariot name and brand serve this nonprofit and its clients well for decades to come. Who knows, maybe you or I will end up on a Chariot ride someday.