Rally Austin partners with Red Fan to create a new messaging platform, redesign its website and announce its new brand in mere weeks.
The Story
Over the last two decades, the skyline of Austin, Texas, has undergone dramatic changes. Where once no building was allowed to block the view of the state capital, Austin now has 55 buildings at least 250 feet tall, with a massive 74-story, 1,022-foot skyscraper in the works.
Meanwhile, Rally Austin, a real estate nonprofit, presses on to maintain Austin’s treasured icons and drive equitable and inclusive economic development—keeping the city true to its reputation of live music, restaurants, outdoor attractions and diverse culture, while also creating new pathways for cultural and economic resilience.
Formerly known as the Austin Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), Rally Austin is credited for helping save local landmarks like The Hole in the Wall—a beloved music venue that has served the University of Texas area since the early 1970s—and The Broken Spoke, a nationally recognized dance hall and music venue.
In that same spirit, Rally Austin champions new real estate projects that prioritize affordability, equity, inclusion and economic growth that prevents historically marginalized communities from being displaced.
In early 2024, the AEDC changed its name to Rally Austin to better reflect its vision to create a culturally resilient and economically integrated Austin. However, to achieve that vision, officials needed to tie its brand more closely to the community it serves instead of the local city government through which it was founded. They wanted a name and vision for city and community leaders to rally around.
To complete this brand transformation, Rally Austin needed new messaging, a renovated website and media coverage—all in a matter of weeks.
Red Fan Communications hit the ground running.
Challenge
Ordinarily, brand makeovers can take months to develop messaging, visuals, content and awareness. But Rally Austin needed it in weeks.
When officials came to Red Fan, they had already developed their new name with a brand agency. However, they struggled to explain how they were independent of the city that created them or how they could differentiate from traditional economic development corporations.
They needed a unified message of equity and inclusion as told through one story for the Austin community and another for developers and their board of directors. A simple name change would not suffice.
This message had to be carefully researched, crafted and conveyed through a new website design and media interviews. Much of the progress needed to happen within the first few weeks of engagement with Red Fan to prepare for an upcoming board meeting.
Solution
Red Fan immediately expedited a brand positioning and narrative exercise to interview stakeholders about Rally Austin’s new name and mission. Feedback from these interviews was shared with Rally Austin to provide data-backed recommendations on a messaging platform.
This information was used to create website content while collaborating with a web design firm. Several new pages, including a new landing page, were developed in days. Meanwhile, the Red Fan media relations team tapped into its deep local media connections, crafted a press release announcing the new name and trained Rally Austin spokespeople while pitching and securing multiple media briefings.
The new copy and landing page were completed in time for the board meeting. The next three months were spent fleshing out the remaining website, announcing the new name over a press release and conducting additional media briefings.
Red Fan executed the entire scope of work in less than five months.
Results
Based on the quick actions of Red Fan and the website design firm, Rally Austin conveyed its vision confidently to key stakeholders while announcing and promoting the new name to the Austin media.
Several local media outlets covered the news, including the Austin Business Journal, Community Impact, the Austin Monitor and KUTX, which featured Rally Austin’s efforts to negotiate a new lease for the Hole in the Wall.
Insights from the brand positioning and narrative lab continue to be used in Rally Austin’s content and messaging as the organization advances its mission to create an equitable and inclusive Austin.
