Elevating a brand. Making big change for all kids.
Children’s Miracle Network® (CMN) is one of the leading charities impacting the health of all kids. In 2024, they approached Jump with a seemingly simple request: Conduct a brand assessment to determine how the brand was perceived among target audiences and how they could improve awareness, relevance and longevity moving forward.
What followed was a deep and thoughtful brand evolution journey to help strengthen the CMN brand — specifically, clarifying its mission and building a stronger foundation for long-term growth across its network of hospitals, programs and partners.
Respecting a brand’s legacy
Nonprofit brands are uniquely powerful symbols. They can be deeply personal for people, holding real emotional significance. The CMN brand represents over 40 years of hope and joy for millions of children and families.
At Jump, we respect that power. We never change a brand for change’s sake. Our approach focuses on protecting brands, pruning what no longer serves them and strengthening what does. How can we tell the difference? Let’s talk about it. Email randy.micheletti@jumpcompany.com or click the button below to get in touch.
The challenge
Children’s Miracle Network had built decades of goodwill, emotional connection and national fundraising success. Despite this, 2024 brand tracking research revealed a critical issue: unaided awareness remained low despite their national scale. The brand was also frequently confused with other children’s healthcare charities. Our task was clear.
Increase brand awareness
Modernize but preserve equity
Engage all stakeholders
Our 3-phase solution
At each phase, we partnered closely with executive leadership, hospital stakeholders, corporate partners, program leaders and board members to ensure alignment around our proposed path forward.
Phase 1:
Audit & assessment
Before any creative work began, we performed a rigorous brand audit and research studies that surfaced many key insights and guided every decision that followed.
Phase 2:
Strategy & development
We translated the findings of our assessment into a cohesive brand strategy that included positioning, brand identity and architecture.
Phase 3:
Brand launch &
execution
Our strategy then came to life through a bold creative platform and detailed launch plan to ensure brand consistency across the network.
Phase 1:
Brand audit & assessment
Before recommending any changes, Jump conducted a comprehensive brand assessment in conjunction with CMN’s annual brand tracking research. Our process combined primary consumer research, stakeholder interviews and competitive analysis to surface the underlying dynamics shaping the CMN brand. Across dozens of stakeholder conversations and extensive secondary research, four key insights emerged:
1. The organization had equity, but not clarity
While aided awareness was relatively strong, unaided awareness was low, meaning the brand was rarely top-of-mind within the children’s healthcare charity space.
2. The balloon carried emotional equity
Our brand assessment determined that the CMN balloon is one of the organization’s strongest and most recognizable assets. Since 1983, it has been the symbol of the brand, representing the ability to rise above obstacles and inspire hope.
3. The word “Hospitals” created confusion
Consumers often interpreted the organization’s former name (Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals) for a healthcare system rather than a nonprofit network. The name was also frequently shortened inconsistently in public conversation.
4. The network itself was the differentiator
Research revealed that CMN is unique in how it supports the healthcare needs of all children. Its scale gives the organization the ability to connect hospitals, corporate partners and communities nationally. The problem was a lack of awareness around this point.
All these insights pointed toward one conclusion: CMN didn’t need reinvention. It needed an intentional, evidence-backed evolution that sharpened its brand story and consistently told that story across the network.
Phase 2:
Brand strategy & development
With assessment insights in hand, Jump developed a broader brand strategy that became the guiding framework for subsequent decisions and brand development. This strategic foundation informed every aspect of the brand evolution. From positioning and audience strategy to visual identity, messaging and creative expression, our approach centered around three priorities:
1. Preserve and strengthen existing equity
Rather than abandoning recognizable assets, the evolved identity would elevate:
- The balloon as a unique brand symbol
- The emotional spirit of optimism and possibility
- The organization’s history and credibility
2. Clarify the organization’s mission
The new positioning focused on helping audiences immediately understand:
- What the network is
- Why it matters
- How the network supports children’s healthcare
- How support has local impact
3. Create a more unified brand system
The strategy introduced a stronger relationship between the main CMN brand and sub-brands of its fundraising programs, including:
- Dance Marathon
- Extra Life
- Play Yellow
- Radiothon
- Credit Unions for Kids®
We developed presentations, workshops and executive-level strategy sessions to help stakeholders understand what elements were changing, why they were changing and how the organization’s future growth depended on greater clarity and consistency. This framework became critical in gaining alignment across leadership, hospitals and partners.
Phase 3:
Brand launch &
execution
The new brand identity
Jump began the brand launch and creative execution phase by translating the approved brand strategy into a more consistent and ownable identity system. The most visible shift was the simplification of the name from Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to Children’s Miracle Network, helping reduce confusion and reinforce the broader power of the network.
The refreshed logo retained the iconic miracle balloon while giving it greater prominence, and the word “Children’s” became the new focal point of the wordmark. The color palette also shifted to blue and yellow, creating a more optimistic expression of the brand while helping differentiate it from the red commonly used by other children’s charities.
These foundational identity elements were captured in comprehensive brand guidelines, giving hospitals, fundraising programs and corporate partners a clearer framework for presenting the brand consistently across touchpoints.
Finally, with the visual identity in place, Jump helped extend the strategy into a broader creative platform designed to help CMN stand out and connect more clearly with audiences. The balloon became an expressive brand device, appearing as a visual cue that could support champion photography and other touchpoints while keeping the identity recognizable. The brand message, “Make Big Change For All Kids,” highlights CMN’s scale and collective impact while also serving as a strong call to action at donation activation points.
Internal launch
By April 2025, CMN began rolling out the new brand to network hospitals, fundraising programs and corporate partners. Jump supported this key internal launch by working closely with CMN teams to create a coordinated rollout focused on education, implementation and adoption. This gave teams across the network time to understand the strategy, plan for the transition and prepare updated brand collateral ahead of the January 2026 external launch.
External launch
With the new brand identity, creative platform and organizational alignment in place, the evolved CMN brand officially launched in January 2026 through a coordinated national rollout. Jump partnered with CMN to develop a phased strategy designed to strengthen awareness, build engagement and invite more people to support the cause:
01 | The Reveal
To generate national awareness around the launch, CMN introduced its new identity through a PR, social media and influencer campaign anchored by a surprise drone show in New York City. Jump also co-developed the Impact Pledge, inviting supporters to help CMN raise $1 billion in two years and bringing the new brand to life through a clear, tangible call to action rooted in the organization’s next chapter.
02 | The Surge
Building on the initial reveal, Jump worked with CMN to launch a national brand campaign across digital, social, streaming, search and video platforms, using paid media, influencer partnerships, corporate campaigns and fundraising events to increase familiarity, deepen emotional connection and drive donor engagement. Jump also helped announce actor and comedian Adam Devine as the first-ever “Chief FUN-Raiser” for CMN, bringing humor and heart to the broader awareness strategy.
03 | Sustained Momentum
After the Surge Phase completes, the CMN media strategy shifts gears, focusing on remarketing, end-of-year giving campaigns, recurring donor journeys and ongoing network activations. These efforts will convert increased brand awareness into longer-term donor relationships and strengthen the CMN organization for years to come.
How we partner with nonprofits
Our experience with CMN is proof that a successful rebrand doesn’t happen by accident. It only happens with careful planning, insight and strategic creative execution.
Strategic Planning
Every decision we make is anchored in strategy. We don’t start creating until we understand the organization, its audiences and its market.
Industry Insight
We have decades of experience working with nonprofits, healthcare systems, and multi-stakeholder brands. We understand their unique challenges and help them navigate that complexity.
Creative Development
We partner with our clients’ internal teams, guiding and augmenting their capabilities with fresh perspectives, production bandwidth, stakeholder buy-in and whatever else is needed to create work people love.
Jump expertise
From insight to impact, our capabilities span the full brand life cycle.
1 Strategy
2 Creative
3 Media
Brand audits, positioning frameworks, architecture and the strategic foundation that makes every creative decision more effective
Visual identity, campaign concepting and brand storytelling that demands attention, builds recognition and drives action
Paid, earned and owned media strategies that work together as one system to amplify your brand and drive measurable growth.
Ready to build a brand that moves people?
Whether you’re evolving an established brand or building from the ground up, Jump brings the strategy, creativity and process to get it right. Email randy.micheletti@jumpcompany.com or click the button below to get in touch.
