Case Studies
National Community Pharmacists Association
Visual Identity and Design for an Important Association Cause
Situation
Despite the proliferation of large chain pharmacies, independent pharmacists dispense nearly half of the nation's retail prescription drugs. The National Community Pharmacists Association, founded in 1898 as the National Association of Retail Druggists (NARD), represents the pharmacist owners, managers, and employees of nearly 25,000 independent community pharmacies across the United States.
As part of the organization’s focus, NCPA hosts an Annual Convention & Trade Exposition that helps its members to continually better run and expand their businesses.
However, attendance — along with the quality of the conference materials that promoted it — had begun to deteriorate. NCPA required a firm experienced in preparing conference materials for associations that was agile enough to complete jobs quickly while working on multiple projects at once and have the processes in place to ensure high quality.
Objectives
- Increase attendance at the NCPA Annual Convention & Trade Exposition.
- Conceive fresh branding and design elements to revitalize the association's materials.
- Transition from the previous visual brand to a new one without losing the equity the conference materials had retained.
Tactics
After first receiving NCPA’s input on the desired look and feel of the materials, Boscobel quickly laid down its quality control processes. From production schedules to a streamlined review process, all materials were required to pass a stringent examination for both design and content.
Following the quality control measures and the production schedules helped the process flow smoothly. The materials contained portions of the previous years’ materials and introduced new colors and icons to help successfully transition the brand (making it memorable and recognizable to attendees new and old). In all, the following materials were created without a hitch:
- Theme Logo
- Stationery Package
- Exhibitor Prospectus
- Sponsorship Brochure
- Teaser Postcard
- Industry Trade Magazine Ads
- Preliminary Guide
- Final Program Guide
Results
The execution of the materials was such a success that attendance had already improved from the previous year’s mark … and that was 10 days away from the convention.
“I want to thank all of you for your responsive hard work in putting together the NCPA Convention materials,” said NCPA Design & Production Director Enjua Claude. “Our creative standards were high and you met them well. From the custom theme logo to the consistent branding in every piece, you helped us gain improved market exposure.”
Additionally, so impressed was NCPA by our work that the organization asked Boscobel to create logos and collateral materials outside the original scope of work.