U.S. LawShield came to IDealogic® looking for a new brand identity, multiple websites, and a strategic marketing partner to help them refine their sales and marketing processes and launch into new markets. As a group of passionate self-defense advocates, the company’s brand image should reflect the patriotic, member-focused values of their services. As we began brand development, we were sensitive to the unique climate in which the business operates. Our strategies needed to be based on facts and real-world experiences, designed to resonate and align with their target audience, with the focus being on inclusion.

Our brand development process began with a period of intense discovery and strategic plan to get to know their program offerings, business challenges, markets, consumers, and industry as a whole. We then developed the brand’s U.S.P. (unique selling proposition): Legal Defense for Self Defense. The company’s most visible brand statement, the U.S.P. leads directly to the organization’s entire brand messaging platform.

To create messaging that would help the brand connect to its broader audience, we completely immersed ourselves in the wealth of information available on firearms, legal weapons of all kinds, and self-defense laws and rights. We investigated the intricacies and features that would help us to develop a new, appealing narrative and found that the brand’s existing approach focused solely on guns and the 2nd Amendment. This was alienating the majority of the company’s potential audience, reducing the brand image to that of a fringe organization. The brand was struggling to reach beyond the 2nd Amendment groups, despite the fact that their services are designed for all who believe in safety and their right to self-defense. The brand believes that everyone can—and should—benefit from and be empowered by self-defense knowledge and awareness, yet there was a massive disconnect between the brand and its target audience segments.

To highlight and cultivate the center of their brand story with authenticity, we set out to gain expert understanding of their newly created industry and of all their audience segments. We utilized the findings from our research to uncover the emotional core and heart of the brand, and discovered that U.S. LawShield is about much more than 2nd Amendment rights—it’s about safety. Safety is the second tier of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which means it’s a top priority to us as human beings. At IDealogic®, we typically rebrand organizations at the 3rd tier, Belonging, as this is where culture thrives. It is a rarity that we can start in the second tier of safety. By appealing to the instinctual needs of human beings, we start the brand relationship by gaining trust at a necessity level. This trust is what builds Brand to Human® bonds. Though the brand’s overarching messaging needed to be about belonging; it was important that we first position the brand as the advocate of safety. This garners greater impact than solely advocating for the Constitution, because no one places a negative connotation on safety or self-defense. With this strategy, we were able to align the brand to its audience on four out of five tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The most effective and comprehensive way to facilitate a brand movement for U.S. LawShield was to position the brand through a singular, overarching campaign with segmented member micro-campaigns. Join U.S. is a campaign that embodies who U.S. LawShield® is and what it stands for. The double entendre reinforces the company’s brand name and signifies belonging to a group—which we named Shield Nation. “US” is the emotional messaging connection point that serves as an invitation to like-minded individuals to join the brand community through a purpose-driven initiative. The campaign features strategic member segmentation as well as messaging that supports the brand personality, engineered to embody freedom and country. By utilizing the patriotic red, white and blue color scheme, we attached the brand to an already deep-seeded culture and heritage, value structure, and love of country. The message invites the prospective member into an established, like-minded community of people; and reminds existing members that they are part of that collective with a sense of pride, purpose, and belonging.

We then created modern, high-end visual communications designed to complement the newly constructed brand narrative, messaging, and business strategies. We revamped the brand’s corporate identity to help modernize the logo, created sub-identities for each of their services and products with a simplified, dynamic color palette. The aesthetic shift purposefully attached the company to the American legacy—a heritage rooted in the minds and hearts of every American citizen.

We completely refreshed and recreated online and print collateral. We created a complete customer journey experience and channel mapping strategy for the brand’s sales and new market launch processes. We developed and launched a new website designed to guide users through a carefully crafted brand experience. We shot custom brand photography to fit any future scenarios they may want to utilize, created trifold brochures, a welcome kit for new members, newsletters, and Brand Standards and Guidelines books to ensure proper brand management.

During the rebranding process, we also worked side-by-side with the LawShield team to create a different set of educational assets and unique product websites that were then funneled through their newly created Educational Institute. This content was designed to attract prospective members (and educate existing members) from a fresh standpoint. Their unwavering and ongoing focus to provide such an extensive library of educational resources has firmly positioned U.S. LawShield as a leader in the field of self-defense law—truly a testament of their passionate commitment to their members, values, and beliefs.