Learn how Packback used brand, design and culture to guide and inspire over 200 student Brand Ambassadors at over 70 campuses across the country.
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When we launched the Packback Brand Ambassasdor Program last spring, we believed that the most challenging part of starting a program like this would be recruiting interested students. Little did we know that in just three months, we would have nearly 2000 student applications pour in, alongside passionate letters explaining how much they connected with the Packback mission and story! To our surprise, our biggest challenge was not recruiting, but rather managing and inspiring a quickly-growing and diverse team of remote Ambassadors.
The Challenge
As we added more Brand Ambassadors to our program, we were faced with the challenge of making every Ambassador at our 70 campuses around the country feel connected to the Packback team here in Chicago, while keeping everyone working towards the same mission of helping college students get more out of their education while spending less. We now have selected over 200 of the country's most driven, innovative and entrepreneurial students to be a part of the Packback Brand Ambassador Program, and wanted to find a way to guide their efforts without creating rigid guidelines that stifled their own creativity and their role as an on-campus entrepreneur for Packback.
Our Solution
As a deeply design-focused start-up, we knew the solution to unifying, inspiring and guiding our scattered national team would be through a strong and well-communicated brand. This weekend, we released a new Culture Book that introduces new Ambassadors to the program, our team, and our company's mission, while celebrating and highlighting some of the incredible, entrepreneurial student leaders that are current Packback Brand Ambassadors.
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Above: A few spreads from our newly released Brand Ambassador Program Culture Book
Branding the Brand Ambassador Program
Before we ever approached the task of crafting a Culture Book, we focused on defining the brand for the Ambassador Program in a way that would fit with the larger Packback Brand (in tone, messaging and visuals) but would still have its own unique personality. One of the critical elements of this strategy was our creation of a Badge for the Brand Ambassador Program that would be worn only by our Active and Lead Stage Ambassadors, giving a sense belonging and unity between campuses.
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Above: The Brand Ambassador Program Badge
To quote Wally Ollins from Debbie Millman's book, Brand Thinking;
"Branding is a profound manifestation of the human condition. It is about belonging: belonging to a tribe, to a religion, to a family. Branding demonstrates that sense of belonging. It has this function for both the people who are part of the same group and also for the people who don’t yet belong." -Wally Ollins
About Packback
Packback is a student-founded and student-focused company focused on helping college students get more out of their education, while spending less. We are the first company to ever offer on-demand One-Day eTextbook Rentals for $5 or less per day. We are passionate about helping students take control over their education and giving them tools to make the best decisions about textbooks. Because of this, we created a Price Comparison Engine that compares prices from every top textbook retailer, including Packback, to ensure students never overpay for a textbook again.
We think an education should give students a better future...not a lifetime of debt. Packback and our Brand Ambassadors are leading a national student movement for textbook affordability. Interested in becoming a Packback Ambassador? Apply here!
Want to read the Packback Brand Ambassador Program Culture Book? Get it here!
