Transforming the Leader in Middle East Policy

Middle East Policy in the Spotlight

Like many Washington D.C. think tanks, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's reputation was built on its research. The quality or consistency of their communications or the value of their brand were afterthoughts at best. Following the September 11 attacks, several years of rapidly increasing competition convinced The Washington Institute that in the new media landscape, superior research was not enough—they needed to secure their position as the industry's thought leader.

New Life for a Quintessentially Beltway Brand

The inclusion and approval of numerous trustees and advisors is critical when rebranding nonprofits. As a Beltway brand, however, change did not come easily. To preserve continuity with nonprofit's history, we took a fresh look their existing logo—maintaining its essential elements, but applying classic typography that would feel right at home with policy leaders, experts and donors alike.

After developing brand standards to a 20th anniversary, we partenered with The Washington Institute for 3 years, developed integrated print communications and event materials to help get the message out with consistency and clarity—reaffirming the Institute's history of leadership, and cementing their position as the preeminent voice when it comes to understanding the Middle East.

A New Communications Channel

While polishing their reputation was a priority, The Washington Institute's biggest need was to take their existing website, a tangled mess of over 5,000 static pages with no content management system, and transform it into their primary publishing channel. We architected a new user experience to better support their programs and fellows, making it easy to add research as it's developed, promote events, and feature media coverage. New content taxonomies make finding content easy, while a new eCommerce bookstore generates online sales while reducing administrative costs.