The rebranding initiative is part of an overall organizational revitalization plan.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (April 2, 2019) – Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), the only coalition dedicated to ensuring accountability and independent validation of corporate responsibility throughout the promotional product industry’s supply chain, has redesigned not only its logo but also the website and blog to deliver easier navigation, overall better user experience and more robust content. View it at qcalliance.org.
As part of a broader revitalization plan, the rebranding initiative supports the new participation model that debuted in January in an effort to expand engagement and involvement.
The icon has moved away from a graphic symbol to a logotype QC, where the Q signifies quality and the C represents the circle of continuous improvement. A navy blue color palette was chosen to instill confidence and trust along with feelings of loyalty, integrity and responsibility. The green accent color was chosen to symbolize growth—not only for the increased importance of brand safety and responsible sourcing to end buyers but also for the evolution of the organization in helping the promotional products industry meet these buyers’ demands.
“The major win for this design is not only its versatility in co-branding with supplier partners and distributor advocates, but it also opens up the possibility of client co-brands in the future,” said Tim Brown, MAS, QCA’s executive director of operations. “It has a clean, modern look that appropriately delivers the QCA message, yet it is simple and subtle enough to not compete with end-user brands.”
These kinds of partnerships are important, as users of custom-branded merchandise can now work alongside industry distributors and suppliers to advocate for brand safety through the responsible sourcing of promotional products. With this level of collaboration, a new website was needed—one that is easy to navigate, contains relevant content and is visually appealing.
While the aesthetics are noticeably improved, some of the most important parts of the site can’t actually be seen. Behind the scenes, the site employs technology far more powerful than what was available before.
“It is part of a new association management system that will allow us to run a more efficient organization and communicate better with our affiliates,” said Brown. “It includes expanded capabilities for sharing information with affiliates as well as the ability to process online applications and payments—plus a host of other enhancements that will be phased in over time.”
The blog is also being revitalized under the moniker Brand Safety Clinic. Healthy brand reputations are built upon a foundation of awareness and responsible sourcing, but since QCA’s inception more than a decade ago, the majority of content published in our industry has focused on product safety, especially when it comes to federal requirements. While safe, high-quality products and legal compliance are important, there’s much more to brand safety, including social responsibility, environmental stewardship and supply chain security.
“The objective with our content development plan is to help industry practitioners and end buyers understand the issues in the continually evolving compliance environment,” said Lisa Horn, CAS, QCA’s editorial director. “Creating true brand safety goes beyond informing compliance officers; it’s also educating marketers, salespeople, PR pros, procurement officers and CEOs. This wider audience requires a new approach to not only how we talk about brand safety and the effect it can have on organizations but also the importance of building compliance solutions into overall business plans.”
By providing the education and training our entire supply chain needs, QCA is helping companies address any issues that could impact a person’s safety or damage a brand’s reputation. “The overall goal of the website and blog is to be an indispensable resource;” Brown concluded, “one that not only has educational resources that cannot be found anywhere else but also helps end buyers find Distributor Advocates who understand the issues of brand safety and responsible sourcing as well as distributors find Accredited Suppliers to meet these buyer demands.”
About QCA:
Quality Certification Alliance is the only coalition dedicated to ensuring accountability and independent validation of corporate responsibility throughout the promotional product industry’s supply chain. It brings together users, distributor advocates, certified distributors and decorators, and accredited suppliers with the mission to elevate the standards by which promotional products firms consistently provide socially compliant, safe, high-quality and environmentally conscientious merchandise.
QCA Accreditation is granted to companies who complete an independent third-party audit and comply with stringent standards, which are based upon a combination of state and national laws, international standards and industry-accepted best practices that are recognized for their strength and effectiveness.
Tim Brown, MAS is QCA’s executive director – operations. D E (Denise) Fenton serves as executive director – compliance.
For more information about QCA Accreditation and to inquire about the process and benefits received, e-mail participation@qcalliance.org.
For more information about the Quality Certification Alliance, visit http://www.qcalliance.org/.
Like QCA on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/QCAlliance, follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/QCAlliance and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/quality-certification-alliance/.
###
