Buy Social Canada

Railyard 2020 / Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Visual Design, Website Design

Buy Social Canada (BSC) is a social enterprise with a mission to advance and grow social procurement. By building relationships between social suppliers and purchasers, Buy Social Canada is paving the way for communities, corporations and governments to buy and sell with impact. 

We met the Buy Social Canada team at an exciting time of growth and opportunity. With Buy Social Canada expanding its services offerings, our team was tasked with creating an updated brand strategy, identity, website and verbal guidelines to better capture Buy Social Canada’s revolutionary spirit. 

Immersion

We began by immersing ourselves in the social procurement space, by conducting stakeholder interviews, attending Buy Social Canada’s community huddle and reading just about everything we could find on social procurement. Our team was instantly impressed with what the small, but very mighty, team had already accomplished. Inspired by their ambition and passion, we set out to work on the brand strategy. 

Telling the Story

Our primary strategic focus was to clarify the questions: what does Buy Social Canada offer and who is it for? Buy Social Canada has a wide range of clients and partners - from social enterprises and corporations, to purchasers at the federal government. By understanding each unique audience's mindsets, motivations and expectations, we created a unified strategic foundation that spoke to all. 

While codifying other elements of the brand strategy, we paid particular attention to the use of inclusive language and the emotions, thought and actions certain works evoked. A back-and-forth iteration process allowed us to select words that accurately conveyed the brand’s values, character and impact.

A Forward-looking Identity

Visual Identity

We wanted to build a visual identity that would resonate today while also anticipating Buy Social Canada’s role in the public conversation around social procurement in the years to come. The updated identity was guided by three descriptors: revolutionary, sophisticated and personable. 

The updated visual language introduced a more vibrant colour palette that showcases Buy Social Canada as revolutionaries. The dark blue and teal were used as anchors for a more professional and trustworthy identity while the action-oriented orange plays to the brand’s tenacious personality. 

Logo

The logo refresh was guided by a unique condition: it would also need to be adapted to serve as a ‘social enterprise’ certification stamp - a new offering of Buy Social Canada’s. As leaders in the social procurement space, it was important to create a recognizable stamp that could be used on websites and physical products.

Unifying the Message

Verbal Identity

With a large array of audiences and services, Buy Social Canada was seeking to create a unified tone and communication strategy that would be implemented across all touchpoints of the brand. Informed by the brand strategy, we developed a number of verbal guidelines that specified how best to use certain language to communicate who the brand is and what it offers. The outcome was a robust living document that will serve the Buy Social Canada team as they continue to grow and advance their services in the years to come. 

Impact

The two strategies, coupled with the refreshed website, have breathed new life into Buy Social Canada’ brand and captured the revolutionary aspects of their mission. We feel so honoured to have worked with such a knowledgeable, warm and driven team!

Shoutout to:

The Buy Social Canada working team: David, Elizabeth, Tori, Niamh and Nicole
Our advisors/mentors: Joseph, Robbie, Breanne and Vanessa

Testimonials

"It was a fantastic experience to work with Shane and the Yardies from Railyard Lab on Buy Social Canada’s rebrand and website design. They took our feedback graciously and patiently. By working iteratively, they allowed our team to be highly engaged in the design development. They even put up with me blabbering about colours at multiple meetings! Railyard Lab boosts the entire social economy ecosystem by providing amazing design skills to social impact organizations. If anyone is hesitant about the quality of work with Railyard Labs, know that you’ll have the backing and support of the incredible Dossier team and honestly, the students were all fantastic. I encourage anyone seeking to up their marketing game to the same level of their social value creation to work with Railyard. If you need further evidence, check out our awesome new website at www.buysocialcanada.com."

Tori Williamson, Director of Education & Communications