Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), has pioneered and advanced research for cures for type 1 diabetes (T1D) since the organization was established by volunteers more than 50 years ago. The nonprofit was founded in 1970 by families of children living with T1D when the disease was known as “juvenile diabetes,” as it was frequently diagnosed in—and strongly associated with—young children. Now, however, we understand that T1D can be diagnosed in anyone at any age. Thanks to advanced therapies, which this organization helped accelerate and make available, people with T1D are living longer and staying healthier while Breakthrough T1D continues to drive toward cures.
Our objective was to rebrand our organization to better reflect who we are: the world leader in type 1 diabetes research, advocacy, and community support. To do this, we needed a brand that would resonate with the entire T1D community, as opposed to our former brand (JDRF or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) which suggested that we were only focused on children.
We selected the name Breakthrough T1D after a rigorous, data-informed process because it conveys our ability to connect with and support the entire type 1 diabetes community – not just children. And the new name puts our mission front and center: to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat type 1 diabetes and its complications.
We developed the brand over nearly two years, which we spent collecting data from around the world, surveying thousands of donors, T1D patients, parents of children with T1D, and members of the general population.
The data revealed that we weren’t reaching everyone we should be. Globally, 36% of people with T1D and their caregivers did not know who JDRF was. And 63% of people with T1D and their caregivers who were not familiar with us shared that our name gave them less confidence in our mission. That is because the old name, JDRF, implied we were only child-focused, which isn’t the case, as T1D can affect people of all ages. Approximately 50% of new T1D diagnoses are in adults, and 88% of people living with T1D are adults. It also excluded all the important stakeholders involved - like adults with T1D, parents, caregivers, researchers, and doctors.
Furthermore, the name JDRF did not accurately reflect the full spectrum of our efforts to advance breakthrough therapies, unlock access to them, and deepen engagement and support of the T1D community.
Given this, we realized we needed a name that clearly reflects who we are, what we do, and our ambitions for the future. We also realized that our brand needed to better help us raise awareness for type 1 diabetes and our impact on people living with the disease. Together, we developed a visionary, powerful brand that more accurately reflects who we are: the world leader in type 1 diabetes research, advocacy, and community support. Breakthrough T1D was a name that resonated with our audience and brings the entire T1D community together.
The brand is not only comprised of a new name, but also a new strategy and purpose statement (As we drive toward curing T1D, we help make everyday life better for the people who face it), a new brand architecture where all program names roll up to the enterprise brand – Breakthrough T1D, and a new visual identity. We researched and tested each of these phases to ensure the new brand would resonate with the entire T1D community.
To launch the brand, we developed an omnichannel 360 launch plan to create surround sound awareness with the T1D community and inspire engagement with our mission.
This brand work is unique in that many rebrands simply involve a logo change or new visual identity. Renaming a successful and established 50-year-old brand is risky, but we are already seeing that this was the right move for our organization to deepen engagement and support with the entire T1D community which will allow us to drive toward cures faster.
Our objective was to rebrand our organization to better reflect who we are: the world leader in type 1 diabetes research, advocacy, and community support. Our measurement plan around the launch focused on building awareness with the T1D community, deepening engagement across owned channels, and driving acquisition and conversion in the form of new social media followers and email subscribers.
We launched on 6/4/24 and as of 8/4/24 we have seen tremendous success in awareness, engagement, and acquisition including but not limited to:
