Case Study
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
There were several interrelated problems with Kripalu's branding and identity which had a negative graphic and emotional impact, especially as yoga gained in popularity and various types and styles distinguished themselves. Specifically, the visual identity was dated, had no guidelines for consistent use for multiple generations of logos, marks and typefaces, each showing up across the organization's materials with little attention to their meaning.
The brand was no longer reflective of the new leadership of the organization nor its uplifted positioning of the institution and its style of yoga. It was clear that Kripalu Yoga was seen in a particular light (soft , no structure, anything went, wimpy, touchy-feely, etc).
The central challenge therefore, was how to express Kripalu Yoga for what it truly is - deeply grounded in the 4000-year-old principles of yoga. It is an approach that permits the practitioner to bring their true self to the mat, which recognizes that practitioners come with varied skills and needs. In fact, Yoga, as practiced at Kirpalu, is a contemporary, rigorous approach which needed to be promoted.
Solution
A Brand Team was formed to clarify the mission. The goal, as directed from the CEO, was to bring form and function, consistency and appeal, clarity and power, to the voice and visual identity of the organization.
Recreated the logo and clearly defined treatments to bring consistency and recognition to the brand.
Built a visual vocabulary and a set of guidelines for the application of the logo to all materials for staff and public use.
Developed a graphic approach to present Kripalu yoga as a clean, contemporary and rigorous practice.
Created a photographic approach that presented the single yogi in white on a white background engaged in yoga postures from basic to complex but always with an expression of ease, focus, and life force. These yoga portraits became an essential component of all marketing communications. Develop ad campaigns that are clean, simple, powerful, while integrating the revamped web site into a user friendly experience.
Conclusion
The revamped and re-invigorated graphics and advertising energized the entire organization. Not only did we succeed on a consumer level, but we were so intrusive on our approach that every phase of the organization came into play from advice on furniture selections, color schemes to general architectural strategies to help improve the image.
The overall results were staggering: Guest visits went from 66,000 to 90,500 and revenues surged from $14 million to $27.7 million.
