The New Branding of CBST.org

A couple of years ago we began work on a massive new site for Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) a synagogue in New York for LGBTQ Jews, their families and friends. The synagogue provides services of all kinds to a burgeoning community with lots of different interests and needs, and has a national and international presence in both the media, and among other organizations with which it works to pursue justice and equality for all. When we started, CBST was still using a mish mash of branding materials that had come into being over its 36 years.

With no branding guidelines to go with at the time, we worked with volunteers and staff to create a compelling look for the site. The site itself has amazing features and functionality, including it’s potential for growth (new features coming soon!). Everyone was proud of the work.

But over the past year CBST went through the process of creating a full brand strategy. (Yay!) Of course it was VisibleU’s job to apply it to the site, and we’re quite thrilled with the results. Take a look at the screen shots.

Step one back in 2008 was to build a new, organized, strong cbst.org that had the technology to expand to meet the needs of this dynamic community. Among those needs were multiple levels of authors and editors, podcasts, organized and dynamic site structure, potential for blogs, and so much more. The greatest challenge was presenting all of the many parts of the organization’s work and community.

The site launched to great response and has worked well over the past year or so. Now the site is newly updated to reflect the new branding (courtesy of the excellent folks at BigDuck). This wasn’t just a matter of changing a few colors. We had to make a lot of small adjustments so that the site didn’t simply reflect the new colors, but reflected the whole look and feel that the branding process came up with.

Surprise! Oprah = Higher Open Rate

The results of a last-minute e-mail campaign earlier this month for client Sarabeth’s Kitchen just goes to show that send days and times are all relative. Especially when Oprah is involved.

When we learned that Sarabeth’s Legendary Spreadable Fruit was featured in the current issue of O, The Oprah Magazine as one of Oprah’s Top 10 All-Time Favorite Gifts, we knew we had an opportunity on our hands. Thus, we wasted no time putting together an e-mail deal to celebrate this special recognition. Along with the requisite quote from Oprah herself heralding the brand as “the only jams I have in my house,” the e-mail offered 10% off a Sarabeth’s order of $50 or more with coupon code “OPRAH08” at checkout. The e-mail was sent on a Tuesday – which also happened to be a federal holiday – at 6 p.m. The subject line read, “An Oprah All-Time Favorite Gift: Sarabeth’s.” Additionally, we created a sense of urgency by limiting the campaign to three days, ending at midnight that Friday.

The open rate was better than expected at just shy of 30%. Of those who opened the e-mail, almost 20% clicked through links that led to Sarabeth’s home and products pages. To put these percentages in perspective, the open and click-through rates are among the best results we’ve seen from a Sarabeth’s e-mail, and the number of total people who opened the e-mail is the highest from any of their campaigns.

All in all, we couldn’t have expected a better outcome from a spur-of-the-moment campaign – the success of which was undoubtedly driven by analyzing the results of Sarabeth’s past campaigns and, of course, the power of Oprah.

Oprah Magazine Thinks Sarabeth’s is ‘Simply the Best’

Congrats to our client, Sarabeth’s Kitchen, whose delicious food products are featured in the current issue of O, The Oprah Magazine as one of “Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Gifts”!

About Sarabeth’s Legendary Spreadable Fruits, Oprah herself said, “The only jams I have in my house are Sarabeth’s. I love every flavor she makes, but the orange-apricot marmalade is the one I reach for first.”

Incredible, right? We think so, too!

To celebrate this special recognition, we created an e-mail campaign for Sarabeth’s that includes a 10% discount on all purchases of $50 or more when coupon code “OPRAH08” is entered at checkout. Take a look:

Oprah Magazine Thinks Sarabeth's is 'Simply the Best'

Congrats to our client, Sarabeth’s Kitchen, whose delicious food products are featured in the current issue of O, The Oprah Magazine as one of “Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Gifts”!

About Sarabeth’s Legendary Spreadable Fruits, Oprah herself said, “The only jams I have in my house are Sarabeth’s. I love every flavor she makes, but the orange-apricot marmalade is the one I reach for first.”

Incredible, right? We think so, too!

To celebrate this special recognition, we created an e-mail campaign for Sarabeth’s that includes a 10% discount on all purchases of $50 or more when coupon code “OPRAH08” is entered at checkout. Take a look:

Oprah Magazine Thinks Sarabeth's is 'Simply the Best'

Congrats to our client, Sarabeth’s Kitchen, whose delicious food products are featured in the current issue of O, The Oprah Magazine as one of “Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Gifts”!

About Sarabeth’s Legendary Spreadable Fruits, Oprah herself said, “The only jams I have in my house are Sarabeth’s. I love every flavor she makes, but the orange-apricot marmalade is the one I reach for first.”

Incredible, right? We think so, too!

To celebrate this special recognition, we created an e-mail campaign for Sarabeth’s that includes a 10% discount on all purchases of $50 or more when coupon code “OPRAH08” is entered at checkout. Take a look: