Ready Brand
Strategy
Project Overview
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Ready.gov is FEMA’s national preparedness platform. Its purpose is straightforward but ambitious: help people prepare before disaster strikes.
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I led brand strategy and creative direction for a campaign focused on increasing personal readiness for common catastrophic events such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. The objective was to move preparedness from a passive concept to an active habit.
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This was about more than awareness. It was about behavior change at scale.
The Challenge
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Most people believe preparedness is important. Far fewer actually take action.
The core challenge was closing the gap between intention and behavior. Disasters feel abstract until they are not. Messaging had to overcome optimism bias, information fatigue, and the tendency to delay preparation.
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At the same time, the campaign had to serve a national audience with diverse risks, cultures, and access to resources. It had to be accessible, adaptable, and grounded in practical steps while still feeling motivating rather than alarmist.
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We needed to make preparedness feel doable, relevant, and urgent without creating fear fatigue.
The Process
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We began with audience insights and behavioral research to understand common barriers to preparedness. The data was consistent. People delay action when tasks feel complicated or overwhelming.
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So we simplified.
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We structured the strategy around clear, repeatable actions such as Build a Kit, Make a Plan, and Stay Informed. Each message was designed to reduce cognitive load and emphasize small, manageable steps.
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Creatively, we developed a cohesive visual system that balanced authority with approachability. Clear iconography. Direct language. Strong contrast for accessibility. Assets were designed for modular deployment across social media, web, video, and partner toolkits.
We also ensured flexibility so the core brand could adapt to seasonal hazards and real time disaster events without losing consistency.
The Solution​
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The final campaign delivered an integrated preparedness brand system supported by social graphics, animations, videos, and partner ready materials.
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Messaging focused on empowerment. Instead of asking people to imagine worst case scenarios, we focused on practical confidence. What would it feel like to know you are ready.
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The campaign created a steady drumbeat of preparedness reminders tied to seasonal risks and national awareness moments. By pairing clear calls to action with approachable design, the campaign helped normalize readiness as part of everyday life rather than a reaction to crisis.
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Ready.gov became not just a website, but a recognizable preparedness brand.
Conclusion
What worked best was consistency. Repetition of simple actions built familiarity and recall. The brand system allowed us to maintain clarity even when addressing different hazards.
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The modular creative approach also proved valuable. It allowed rapid adaptation during active disaster cycles while preserving brand integrity.
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If refining further, I would invest even more in hyper local customization and community voices. Preparedness becomes more tangible when it reflects specific lived experiences. I would also expand testing of behavioral nudges to better measure which creative triggers drive actual kit building and plan creation.
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Preparedness is not a single message. It is a habit. This campaign helped make that habit easier to understand and more achievable.