AMA rebrands, uniting the national organization and chapters across the country

As one of the leading marketing centers in the country, it should come as no surprise that Cincinnati has one of the largest and most active chapters of the American Marketing Association. Last week, they welcomed AMA CEO Russ Klein to officially launch the organization’s new brand and direction.
 
“AMA has over 30,000 paid members in a one-size-fits-all model, so we’re blowing that up,” Klein says. “We want to increase engagement and relevancy, and shape the professional development of marketers. So we’re creating benefit bundles with targeted products, services and prices.”

 
For the first time since 1976, AMA revealed a new logo and brand, “Answers in Action,” to reflect the diversity of its membership. With 11,000 undergraduate students, young professionals, mid-career and C-suite professionals — plus academics and researchers — AMA covers every step in a marketing career.

“AMA is to the individual marketer like Nike is to the individual athlete,” Klein says. “We affirm the power of marketing and the individual marketer. We revere and know the marketer. We are stronger together and bound by common values.”
 
AMA Cincinnati was one of a handful of AMA chapters selected to participate in the AMA Brand Task Force, and to pilot the roll out of the new brand.

“The Task Force discussed and created ways to ensure that the new brand was communicated with clarity and excitement, that chapters had what they needed to engage and activate the new brand locally, and that “One AMA” intention was front and center,” says Gina Bonar, president of AMA Cincinnati. “The new brand is not just fresh, simple and current, it is now the cornerstone for all of us to build around, and makes us all much stronger and more connected.”

One of the biggest changes to the AMA brand is that previously, individual chapters had separate identities from the national organization. Now, the national office and all the chapters will work within the same brand template. AMA Cincinnati began transitioning their branding in May and completed it August 1 with the move to their new website.
 
“The early adopter cities, including Cincinnati, helped us understand what it takes to roll out the brand at the chapter level,” Klein says. “Chapters represent the face of the AMA and are the engine of professional development. The new brand is a beacon and a source of energy for the organization and its members.”
 
AMA Cincinnati currently has 400 members that represent 400 companies from every industry in town, even the nonprofit community. The organization is open to traditional marketers, as well as people working in public relations, graphic design, social media and digital communications. The chapter hosts events throughout the year, including a Signature Speaker Series, the first of which is scheduled for September 23 and will feature a representative from Google.
 
“AMA Cincinnati has long embraced the diversity of our audience,” Bonar says. “We host evening events that are more accessible for young professionals, featuring activities like Speed Networking and Recruiter Panels. We bring in top national and local speakers and run workshops that are specifically focused on practical, hands-on development. For several years we have run a CMO Roundtable in partnership with the Cincinnati Chamber. Last year we also launched a new annual program, the CMO/CIO summit.”
 
The rebranding is the visible piece of AMA’s effort to address the intellectual agenda and infrastructure of the association.

“The brand and organizational alignment we now share with our national organization is dramatically improved,” Bonar says. ‘We look like, feel like, and act like one association, with the national driving much of the thought leadership, and chapters driving much of the connectivity. The experience design work that Russ mentioned will help further define the communities, the deliverables and the channels — it’s all coming together to better serve the individual marketer.”