Allegory Studios and Walking Mountains Science Center Recognized Among the 2011 REBRAND® 100 Global Winners

Vail, Colorado — Walking Mountains Science Center was named one of the world's most effective rebrands in the seventh annual REBRAND 100® Global Awards. This prestigious accolade is the highest recognition for excellence in brand repositioning and is the first and only global program of its kind. Allegory Studios led the rebranding of the former Gore Range Natural Science School to reposition the organization as a national model for public-private partnerships in outdoor science education. Timed with the groundbreaking of the non-profit's $10 million campus that will seek LEED Platinum certification, the project included a new name, tagline, logo and positioning, as well as a website redesign, advertising, email newsletters, signage and printed collateral.

"The new brand reflects their personality and their educational philosophy," says Cynthia Forstmann, Allegory Partner and Brand Strategist, "It's a story that captures the joy of learning in nature, the innovation of place-based education, and the importance of stewardship."

This is Allegory's second REBRAND award. The firm was recognized in 2009 for its work with a NY-based client, CSARCH Architecture | Construction Management (www.csarchpc.com).

"These projects are collaborations that represent high-level strategy and creative execution," says Forstmann, "We are thrilled to have our work recognized on a global scale."

"It wasn't an easy task to shortlist the showcase projects," said Sajag Patel, Managing Director and Principal Creative, Breathe Branding in United Arab Emirates and 2011 juror. To select winners, a new, international panel of multidisciplinary experts convenes yearly to review the best of the submissions. They consider "before" and "after" representations of brand transformations with written summaries.

Emphasis was on executed strategy that made an emotional connection and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified customers and prospects. Jurors were unaware of the brand strategists' name and size when reviewing the projects. Consequently, a small consulting firm had as much opportunity to be selected as did global organizations with exponentially greater budgets.

Over 32 industries and 34 countries are represented among the 2011 winners. They ranged from Australian Diabetes Council to luxury car brand, Audi, United States Mint, Brazil's Grupo Boticario, and Amrop, a Belgium-based global search firm. Some of the competing branding consultants included FutureBrand, Interbrand, MetaDesign, Siegel+Gale, in addition to in-house teams, small agencies, and representatives of multinational corporations and non-profits.

2011 jurors included Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation, Liquid Agency and author of Zag and The Designful Company; Fred Gelli, Creative Director and Partner, Tátil Design de Ideias in Brazil; Janelle James, Vice President, Account Director, Leo Burnett Worldwide; Chris Butler, Vice President, Newfangled; and Inese Silina of Nike Golf Global Brand Design.

About Allegory Studios:
Allegory is a full-service brand development and marketing communications firm with offices in Colorado and New York. Allegory's award-winning approach to brand development is based on the use of archetypes to clearly articulate the authentic personality of an organization. The firm's creative efforts are grounded in a philosophy that aligns the services, strengths and history of an organization with its values and culture. Specialists in developing and telling stories in print, through the media and on the web, the firm works with clients throughout the United States. For more information please visit www.allegorystudios.com.

About Walking Mountains Science Center:
The mission of Walking Mountains is to awaken a sense of wonder and inspire environmental stewardship through natural science education. For more than 10 years, the non-profit has offered model science programs for children and adults that take place in nature. The Walking Mountains campus will open its doors in the summer of 2011 and enable the organization to expand its programming and its reach. For more information about Walking Mountains, visit the website at www.walkingmountains.org.

About REBRAND™ and the REBRAND 100® Global Awards:
REBRAND™ is the world's leading resource for effective brand transformations. The REBRAND 100 Global Awards is the first and most respected recognition for repositioned brands. Featured in such media as The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, various magazines and books, the annual competition has entry deadlines in late September. The full 2011 winners showcase is at www.rebrand.com.