Event Geek

Roberto Aboitiz, president of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), tells the Foundation’s communication partners—media, suppliers, service providers, and academe—that RAFI now has a “refreshed and powerful” definition of its soul and purpose as an organization. RAFI Communications Officer Haidee Palapar (inset, standing) explained the communication guidelines that come with RAFI’s refreshed brand.

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) introduced the refreshed RAFI to its communication partners in a launching last Jan. 25 at Casino Español de Cebu.

The event was the first of the series of external brand launches that RAFI will hold this year after the Foundation launched its brand internally last Sept. 7, 2011. It was attended by RAFI’s communication partners, including media, suppliers, service providers, and academe, among others.

The refreshed identity of RAFI manifests the Foundation’s decision to upscale its core initiatives and ensure that its more than 160 employees have a uniform and comprehensive understanding in order to bring more impact in the communities where it works.

“Because so much time has past, it was a good time to revisit our core principles, philosophy and programs. A time to insure we have a uniform and comprehensive understanding of who we are and what our vision is. The ‘Branding Project’ we have been working on for one and half years is designed to secure this alignment. I think we now have a refreshed and powerful definition of our soul and purpose as an organization, and a clear understanding of what we want to achieve.

Now we are in a position to bring this to the world,” RAFI President Roberto Aboitiz said during the launching.

RAFI’s vision and tagline is “Touching People, Shaping the Future.” RAFI’s brand idea defines the 44-year-old foundation as an “Architect of Change.” RAFI’s brand promise is “elevating lives through a comprehensive approach that champions best practices in community development.”
The Foundation’s brand attributes include collaborative as it continues to work with partners; holistic as it carries out multiple initiatives to address complex issues; and role model as it leads by example.

RAFI now have five key focus areas—Integrated Development, Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship, Culture & Heritage, Leadership & Citizenship, and Education.

To carry out the programs under these focus areas, RAFI will capitalize on its capabilities, which include Grants & Awards that provide opportunities for concepts to become effective interventions in uplifting human dignity and that recognize role models in the community, respectively; Institutional Development & Planning that help out partners and communities organize for sustained change; Knowledge Sharing & Advocacy that enables RAFI to share its best practices and equip individuals with knowledge to drive change; and Service & Facilities that allows the foundation to provide support for its communities and partners.

The new logo introduced the Foundation also as RAFI. The shield has been sustained as a reference back to the Aboitiz family. Visually, RAFI’s new identity had been given a modern three-dimension appearance and a professional sans-serif typographic treatment.
RAFI’s new colors—Steel Blue, Ice Blue, and Saffron Yellow—reflect the professional but still warm attitude that RAFI brings in its undertakings.

“In the past, we made use of different logos, colors of uniforms, so it is not surprising that RAFI may be known in different ways. Today, we will begin to change this. Today, we will discipline ourselves to use our logo, our colors and our visual material in a consistent way,” Aboitiz explained.

RAFI has been serving the people in the Visayas and Mindanao through various programs and projects in development work for the past 44 years.

“Over time, we aim stand out even further as architects of change, as having touched people and shaped a better future. This is an exciting point in our history and a good time to position ourselves in the public eye and tell our story. Help us to bring our story—the RAFI Story—out to our recipients and partners. Be part of the RAFI Story!” Aboitiz addressed RAFI’s partners in communications.