Komen Foundation Carefully Manages Brand

"The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation started with a small promise, but became a giant in the battle against breast cancer with a corporate approach to PR," PR Week reports. Part of that approach is consistency of message. "Making sure the logo and brand message are used properly by volunteer affiliates and corporate partners can be a challenge," PR Week writes. "The foundation currently is working on a perception benchmarking project to gauge consumer awareness and the brand's strengths and weaknesses, [the foundation's communications director Susan] Carter says. 'Branding manager' may be a relatively new job title at the foundation, but Komen takes great pains to protect its brand, says Joy Rich, philanthropy specialist at Pier 1 Imports. The retailer selected Komen as its national CSR partner, and sells pink candles each fall. Pier 1 receives branding packets from the foundation, complete with logos and press-release boilerplates, Rich says. 'They just give us the tools that we need to make sure we're getting the message out correctly,' she notes."