STRENGTHENING OUR BRAND
ABOUT
With a rich history dating back to 1905, FarmHouse was and is one of the most unique organizations in the fraternity community. Founded on an incredibly strong values-system that continues to guide the Fraternity today, FarmHouse recently set out to revisit and update its core brand elements, to re-evaluate the position of the Fraternity, and to tell a more compelling and relevant story about why FarmHouse stands apart. In revisiting our mission, vision, values and brand story, we wish to strengthen the FarmHouse brand and communicate our story in the most compelling way possible.
Almost two years ago, the Fraternity and FarmHouse Foundation made the decision to review the effectiveness of our enterprise brand in an effort to continue to be a meaningful part of young men’s lives.
Although a brand overhaul was complete in 2016, the messaging and storytelling aspects were not fully developed at that time. FarmHouse and the FarmHouse Foundation worked with Saturday Brand Communications, based in Charlotte, N.C., to assist with defining and better telling our story.
The International Executive Board, Foundation Board of Trustees, members of the staff and key alumni analyzed FarmHouse’s competitive advantage within our market, taking into account a predicted enrollment drop among college men over the next 5-10 years and the desire to cultivate new and emerging donors.
In fall 2020 and spring 2020, select chapters provided feedback on elements of the brand. During the spring of 2021, over 25 members of all age ranges, chapter size and location, as well as staff, were interviewed by Saturday. Saturday also analyzed data from Dyad Strategies and Cygnus Applied Research in addition to previous branding work and our competitors within the fraternity community.
As a result, a new mission and vision statement, a new tagline, clarified values, a new education suite based on those values and new logos for the Foundation were adopted in the fall of 2021. All are outlined below.
To reflect the Fraternity and the Foundation updates we combined our style guide.
FARMHOUSE VALUES
We are driven by values.
Member feedback described our values and principles as disjointed and complicated. Therefore, FarmHouse has moved away from the four areas of development and three attributes to create one set of values. FARMHOUSE is more than a namesake, it’s what we stand for.
FARMHOUSE MISSION AND VISION
We are defined by our mission and vision.
While the Fraternity has operated with a strong set of values and principles, we lacked clarity of the purpose, the updated mission and vision statements provided clarity for the organization. During the 2021 branding efforts, the leadership of the Fraternity developed these statements to guide us forward.
CORE PRINCIPLES
Unique FarmHouse offerings make our experience one-of-a-kind.
There are a variety of beliefs that make FarmHouse unique. Most importantly are our agricultural roots, being faith-led, providing alcohol-free housing and creating an inclusive environment.
ALIGNING WITH THE FARMHOUSE FOUNDATION
Continuing our legacy together.
The FarmHouse Foundation serves an incredibly important role: to support FarmHouse Fraternity in the execution of its mission by providing financial support and other resources for educational initiatives to benefit members. In an effort to reinforce the significance of the relationship between both organizations, we have updated the core brand elements for the Foundation, as well as its mission, vision and brand story.
The Foundation logo has been updated to be more consistent with the Fraternity logo. The change ensures a synergy and brand relationship between the Fraternity and Foundation, but subtle nuances also ensure each stands fully on its own.
TAGLINE
Progress Shall Mark Our Every Step
Our founders were innovators when they founded this organization as a home for men who were studying agriculture as a discipline. That rich legacy has been carried on for more than a century as FarmHouse adopted alcohol free housing, focused on academics, embraced transparency and a public ritual and leaned into its unique non-Greek name.
We developed Builder of Men as our tagline before many others were thought to be developing young men in the same sense. D. Howard Doane (Missouri 05) said, “you can’t build men by tearing down boys.” However, over time this tagline has been mimicked by other fraternities and similar taglines were published. Those such as Make Better Men, Building Courageous Leaders, Building Balanced Men, Better Men for a Better World and more followed copied the sentiment our Founders created and developed for the men of our organization. It’s nice to see others follow our lead in yet another way.
Once again, it is time for our organization to be innovative and clarify who we are today and what makes us different. As our brand work progressed it became clear that Builder of Men no longer made sense for a rally-cry for those outside of FarmHouse. And when it came time to choose what best described as, we looked to the oldest FarmHouse document – the Object – and to the innovative spirit described within.
From the beginning, we have been led by the phrase “progress shall mark our every step” as we work to better ourselves and those with whom we are in fellowship. Adopting this as our public statement, or tagline, from The Object shows a strengthened commitment to personal achievement, as well as our desire to have a positive impact on society and the world around us. It also helps FarmHouse reclaim innovation and progress as core principles at a time when the industry desperately needs that in the experience we offer our men. This is the mantle on which we build our future!
Rather than abandon “Builder of Men,” we embrace its meaning in powerful ways. We also recognize it’s more of a unique promise we make to each other rather than declare to the world. As such, you will read on page seven of the Builder of Men Affirmation that we are doubling down on our commitment to the undergraduate experience and creating innovative pathways to honor this promise of service. We are proud to unveil the Builder of Men Initiative.
Brand
STRENGTHENING OUR BRAND
ABOUT
With a rich history dating back to 1905, FarmHouse was and is one of the most unique organizations in the fraternity community. Founded on an incredibly strong values-system that continues to guide the Fraternity today, FarmHouse recently set out to revisit and update its core brand elements, to re-evaluate the position of the Fraternity, and to tell a more compelling and relevant story about why FarmHouse stands apart. In revisiting our mission, vision, values and brand story, we wish to strengthen the FarmHouse brand and communicate our story in the most compelling way possible.
Almost two years ago, the Fraternity and FarmHouse Foundation made the decision to review the effectiveness of our enterprise brand in an effort to continue to be a meaningful part of young men’s lives.
Although a brand overhaul was complete in 2016, the messaging and storytelling aspects were not fully developed at that time. FarmHouse and the FarmHouse Foundation worked with Saturday Brand Communications, based in Charlotte, N.C., to assist with defining and better telling our story.
The International Executive Board, Foundation Board of Trustees, members of the staff and key alumni analyzed FarmHouse’s competitive advantage within our market, taking into account a predicted enrollment drop among college men over the next 5-10 years and the desire to cultivate new and emerging donors.
In fall 2020 and spring 2020, select chapters provided feedback on elements of the brand. During the spring of 2021, over 25 members of all age ranges, chapter size and location, as well as staff, were interviewed by Saturday. Saturday also analyzed data from Dyad Strategies and Cygnus Applied Research in addition to previous branding work and our competitors within the fraternity community.
As a result, a new mission and vision statement, a new tagline, clarified values, a new education suite based on those values and new logos for the Foundation were adopted in the fall of 2021. All are outlined below.
To reflect the Fraternity and the Foundation updates we combined our style guide.
FARMHOUSE VALUES
We are driven by values.
Member feedback described our values and principles as disjointed and complicated. Therefore, FarmHouse has moved away from the four areas of development and three attributes to create one set of values. FARMHOUSE is more than a namesake, it’s what we stand for.
FARMHOUSE MISSION AND VISION
We are defined by our mission and vision.
While the Fraternity has operated with a strong set of values and principles, we lacked clarity of the purpose, the updated mission and vision statements provided clarity for the organization. During the 2021 branding efforts, the leadership of the Fraternity developed these statements to guide us forward.
CORE PRINCIPLES
Unique FarmHouse offerings make our experience one-of-a-kind.
There are a variety of beliefs that make FarmHouse unique. Most importantly are our agricultural roots, being faith-led, providing alcohol-free housing and creating an inclusive environment.
ALIGNING WITH THE FARMHOUSE FOUNDATION
Continuing our legacy together.
The FarmHouse Foundation serves an incredibly important role: to support FarmHouse Fraternity in the execution of its mission by providing financial support and other resources for educational initiatives to benefit members. In an effort to reinforce the significance of the relationship between both organizations, we have updated the core brand elements for the Foundation, as well as its mission, vision and brand story.
The Foundation logo has been updated to be more consistent with the Fraternity logo. The change ensures a synergy and brand relationship between the Fraternity and Foundation, but subtle nuances also ensure each stands fully on its own.
TAGLINE
Progress Shall Mark Our Every Step
Our founders were innovators when they founded this organization as a home for men who were studying agriculture as a discipline. That rich legacy has been carried on for more than a century as FarmHouse adopted alcohol free housing, focused on academics, embraced transparency and a public ritual and leaned into its unique non-Greek name.
We developed Builder of Men as our tagline before many others were thought to be developing young men in the same sense. D. Howard Doane (Missouri 05) said, “you can’t build men by tearing down boys.” However, over time this tagline has been mimicked by other fraternities and similar taglines were published. Those such as Make Better Men, Building Courageous Leaders, Building Balanced Men, Better Men for a Better World and more followed copied the sentiment our Founders created and developed for the men of our organization. It’s nice to see others follow our lead in yet another way.
Once again, it is time for our organization to be innovative and clarify who we are today and what makes us different. As our brand work progressed it became clear that Builder of Men no longer made sense for a rally-cry for those outside of FarmHouse. And when it came time to choose what best described as, we looked to the oldest FarmHouse document – the Object – and to the innovative spirit described within.
From the beginning, we have been led by the phrase “progress shall mark our every step” as we work to better ourselves and those with whom we are in fellowship. Adopting this as our public statement, or tagline, from The Object shows a strengthened commitment to personal achievement, as well as our desire to have a positive impact on society and the world around us. It also helps FarmHouse reclaim innovation and progress as core principles at a time when the industry desperately needs that in the experience we offer our men. This is the mantle on which we build our future!
Rather than abandon “Builder of Men,” we embrace its meaning in powerful ways. We also recognize it’s more of a unique promise we make to each other rather than declare to the world. As such, you will read on page seven of the Builder of Men Affirmation that we are doubling down on our commitment to the undergraduate experience and creating innovative pathways to honor this promise of service. We are proud to unveil the Builder of Men Initiative.
