The AIESEC Brand Experience

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]


The Brand Experience

2.0 – The Brand Experience



The Brand Experience: an overview

The Brand Experience is a simple way to understand how our target audiences (members, supporters and enablers) experience (or

interact with) the AIESEC brand. The interactions and touch points they have with AIESEC will shape the impression of what

AIESEC is to them, and by being conscious of this we can manage the kind of experience we would like our target audiences to

have with AIESEC.

The Brand Experience has several elements that will be discussed in more detail in this toolkit. They include:

• Our competitors (organizations offering similar products to our target audiences)

• Target audiences (our potential members, enablers and supporters)

• Physical manifestations (the first interaction point to AIESEC for our target audiences)

• Benefits (what our target audiences get out of engaging with AIESEC)

• Our Values (reflective of The AIESEC Way)

• Discriminator (what distinguishes us from our competitors)

• Essence (what we do in AIESEC, what we are about)

The next few pages of this toolkit will explain each section of the Brand Experience in more detail.

2.1 – The Brand Experience: an overview



Our Competitors

Our competitors are other organizations that offer

similar experiences to our target audiences as we do.

They may be slightly or even very similar to us, based

on what they offer. These include organizations

offering:

• Work abroad opportunities

• Volunteer abroad opportunities

• Cultural experiences

• Skills development

• Networks

Although there may be a few common competitors for AIESEC across this globe (ie) IAESTE for internships or JCI for volunteer

opportunities, your direct competitors will differ from country to country, and perhaps even from city to city. It is important that you

are aware of such similar organizations and the work they are doing so that you are able to identify how AIESEC differs from their

activities.

2.2 – Our Competitors



Our target audiences

As seen from our Balance Scorecard, our target

audiences can be divided into three distinct groups of

people:

• Members

• Enablers (TN takers, mentors and

learning/content partners), and

• Supporters (financial and in-kind partners, Board

of Advisors)

The kinds of characteristics we would be looking for in potential members, enablers and supporters include:

Characteristics for potential members:

• Young people – recent graduates and students

• Youth interested in world issues

• Those who enjoy challenges

• Open minded active learners

• Those with an interest in leadership development

• Passionate and determined

• Those looking for learning and development opportunities

2.3 – Our target audiences



Characteristics for potential enablers:

• TN takers o Companies expanding to other countries o Companies that needs and employees with specific characteristics o Companies with strong CSR or a willingness to start o Issues focused; market leaders

• Learning/content partners o Organizations working with issues relevant in society o Global organizations (with global reach) o Research-based organizations o Individuals with specific skills/knowledge/experience in a particular field

• Mentors o HR companies/specialists o University professors o Alumni o Industry specialists

Characteristics for potential supporters:

• Sponsors, financial and in-kind o Organizations working on similar issues relevant in society o Companies/organizations that are working with youth o Organizations with the same end benefit

• Board of advisors o Industry specialists o Alumni o High profile people

2.3 – Our target audiences



Physical manifestations

This layer includes all the external touch points (or

interaction points) our target audiences have with

AIESEC. Thus, their first interaction point with AIESEC

will affect how they experience our brand.

This layer includes things such as our marketing

materials and visual branding guidelines (including our

logo), but also extends to much more than this.

The first interaction point that our target audiences have

with AIESEC including everything from physical

meetings to our website, conferences, even our Code of

Ethics, all shape the way our target audiences will

understand AIESEC.

Please note: the visual guidelines are currently being

refreshed. The newest version is expected to be released in

September 2007.

2.4 – Physical manifestations



Benefits

Benefits are what our target audiences (or stakeholders)

get out of engaging with AIESEC. While the benefits are

the same for all target audience groups, the reasons why

they are a benefit for each target audience differs based

on the different “experiences” that these audiences have

with our brand.

These are the benefits that our target audiences experience when they interact with AIESEC.

• Societal impact

• Personal and professional development

• International experience

• Global network

2.5 – Benefits



Although they are benefits for different reasons, the above four are benefits for all of our stakeholders, or target audiences. The

chart below explains this in more detail.

Societal impact

Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

� To have an impact on a certain issue

� Learning opportunity � Providing the same experience

to others

� Knowledge sharing � Feeling of supporting to make an

impact in society

� Leadership development � Feeling of contributing to having an

impact on society through others

Personal and professional development


� Self development (leadership development, self-discovery, skill building)

� Supporting development of others

� Feeling of supporting to make an impact on society

� Access to top talent; having top talent in their organization

� Feeling of supporting to make an impact on others

2.5 – Benefits



Global network


� Peers, alumni, businesses all over the world

� Connect to youth around the world, other organizations

� Alumni, youth around the world, other organizations

International experience


� Exchange opportunities, global learning environment, international conferences, etc.

� Interaction with members who have international experience (open minded/worldly)

� Branding and positioning � International conference

involvement

� Diversity in workforce � Branding and positioning � Interaction with members who

have international experience (open minded/worldly)

2.5 – Benefits



Our Values

Our values are an important part of the Brand

Experience. The organizational values defined in The

AIESEC Way were not made to be written up on a wall

and forgotten about. They dictate how we should act

according to our value system for the organization. Our

values are also what our target audiences experience

and live when they interact with AIESEC, thus they

definitely determine how others view us and experience

our brand.

Imagine a TN taker hears all about the ambitious top talented youth that

exist in AIESEC during his first interaction at a conference and decides to

taken on an intern for himself. Imagine that intern meets all his

expectations of being a bright, ambitious and passionate young person

that makes a big difference in the company. The impression that TN taker

will have of AIESEC will be quite good, because of the way he

experienced our brand. Now imagine the same situation but in a negative

way, this is not how we want our stakeholders to experience our brand.

That is why values are so important and interlinked with our brand.

• Demonstrating integrity

• Acting sustainably

• Activating leadership

• Enjoying participation

• Living diversity

• Striving for excellence

2.6 – Our values

Our values



Differentiator

Youth driven impactful experience

Our differentiator is what makes us unique, or simply

put, what sets us apart from the competition. This layer

is very much linked with the next (the essence). While

the essence may not be unique to our competitors, our

differentiator is the unique point—how we do what we do

differently than our competitors.

Through discussions held at the Global Brand Principles

meeting held in May 2007, we came up with three

concrete things that we feel as combined set us apart:

• Youth driven – the concept that AIESEC is run by youth for youth

• Integrated experience – the AIESEC experience comprised of leadership opportunities, an international exchange and a global learning environment

• Impact/activating positive leadership – making a positive impact on society

To express these three differentiators in one sentence we have come up with the phrase: Youth driven impactful experience. Each

part of this phrase has a strong meaning behind it.

2.7 – Differentiator



Youth driven

This emphasizes energy, passion, emotion, and leadership or leading, essentially what AIESEC is about. It also reinforces

the fact that we are youth run.

Impactful

This is about the kind of experience that our stakeholders have when they engage with AIESEC, and the positive impact it

can have on them and/or on society.

Experience

The complete yet individual experience that our stakeholders have with AIESEC from a member’s AIESEC experience to a

TN taker’s experience with an intern to a sponsor’s experience at a conference. This experience draws together all aspects

of the AIESEC experience – leadership opportunities, international exchange and a global learning environment.

What the differentiator is not

This sentence is not meant to be used explicitly to explain AIESEC. The essence behind this statement is what matters. When

you are explaining what sets AIESEC apart these are elements that should come up in your explanation, though the actual phrase

“youth driven impactful experience” is not meant to be a slogan.

2.7 – Differentiator



Essence

This is the essence of what we do as an organization.

This may not be different to our competitors, but it is the

centre of our actions. Our differentiator is how we do

this differently to our competitors.

Our essence is taken from the essence of the brand

promise: activating leadership.

AIESEC is about providing the platform and necessary tools for youth to develop themselves, so that they can have a positive impact on their environments.

Through activating leadership we also want to communicate the important role the individual plays in the experience - the self-driven element. We do this through the concept of AIESEC as a platform of opportunities from which individuals can drive their own experience. The essence of activating leadership can be captured in three simple elements:

• AIESEC is the platform - individuals drive their own experience

• We help individuals to both develop and discover their potential • Our ambition is to develop people that will have a positive impact on society

2.8 – Essence

The AIESEC Brand Experience

Documents

Transcript of The AIESEC Brand Experience