GRAPHIX branding an industry leader
Branding | Tagline
SJI created a new brand purpose, mission, brand story, and tagline for Graphix, Scholastic’s industry-leading graphic novel imprint.
CHALLENGE
Since the imprint’s inception, Graphix has been the leading publisher of graphic novels, home to the industry’s top creators and most popular titles. With the surging popularity and exploding sales of graphic novels has come a wide range of new imprints, all vying for attention and readership. While the Graphix brand was widely known, it had never sought to define what the brand meant. Our challenge was to create a strong foundation for the brand’s continued success through a clear set of brand tenets and a galvanizing tagline.
INSIGHTS
SJI conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with critical stakeholders including internal staff, creators, retailers, educators, and parents. Our findings revealed that Graphix was widely seen as a true champion of the graphic novel industry. They supported the most talented and popular authors creating the highest quality stories, and through those stories, encouraged a love of reading – an outcome that was embraced by educators, and was a tremendous point of support among parents and guardians.
APPROACH
We brought the Graphix brand to life by transforming its positive attributes into engaging and galvanizing brand language. The ability of graphic novels to promote a love of reading – already a huge part of the brand’s purpose, even though not yet codified – became the basis for a new Brand Purpose. In fulfilling that purpose, the company’s Mission focused on the strength of its partnerships with creators, without whom nothing would be possible.
A new Brand Story was developed that would excite and engage fans, readers, educators, and creators alike. And finally, a new tagline summed up Graphix’s best qualities, while serving as an invitation to engage with the brand, its creators, and stories: Get Drawn In.
The new brand language was rolled out across all of the imprint’s touchpoints, and has helped define Graphix going forward.
The experience was terrific from start to finish. They immersed themselves in our brand and delivered a range of strong taglines and brand stories to choose from. They even provided valuable insights and recommendations that went beyond the scope of their work. I highly recommend SJI and can’t wait to work with them again.
Erin Berger SVP, Marketing, Scholastic Trade
