Indy is at aninflection point.
The organization leading that charge deserves a brand and a platform built for what's next.
The Indy region isn't waiting. The skyline is changing. Universities are planting roots downtown. More people are choosing to move here than are leaving, and that momentum is real. The Indy Chamber is at the center of it, connecting businesses, attracting talent, and telling the region's story to the world.
But momentum alone doesn't win. To compete with the nation's fastest-growing metros, the region needs more than progress — it needs a perception shift. The Indy Chamber must look, sound, and function like the organization it already is: a regional economic engine, not a traditional chamber of commerce.
That's the real work here. And it starts with brand and digital strategy working in concert.
Three imperatives.One brand challenge.
Accelerate Indy 2030 gives the Chamber, and the region, a clear strategic north star. Here's what we believe it means for the work ahead:
Fuel Regional Growth + Competitiveness
The plan is direct about the gap: despite real gains in GDP and job creation, too many of the region's jobs remain concentrated in lower-wage, lower-productivity sectors. The Chamber isn't just trying to attract businesses — it's trying to change the composition of the regional economy. That's a fundamentally different brand challenge than most chambers face.
The refreshed identity needs to project the kind of authority that makes a site selector take the region seriously before the first conversation. When a corporate decision-maker is comparing Indianapolis to Nashville or Columbus, the brand and the digital experience are often doing that work alone. Right now, the impression doesn't fully match the ambition. That's the gap this engagement closes.
Connect Talent to Opportunity
The plan acknowledges something that most regional talent strategies quietly avoid: people don't just need information about a place, they need to feel something about it. The goal of bringing 100,000 new residents to the region by 2030 isn't achieved through a directory of neighborhoods, it's achieved when someone who has never set foot in Indianapolis finds themselves imagining a life here.
Life in Indy has the potential to be that platform. But potential requires infrastructure: authentic community voices, tools that make the region feel navigable and personal, employer content that connects career opportunity to quality of life. The digital work here isn't a reskin, it's a purpose-built talent attraction engine.
Elevate Indy's Story
The plan names the problem plainly: the region's identity is fragmented, and its reputation lags its reality. What it doesn't spell out, but what we believe is the central design challenge of this engagement, is that unifying the story across three distinct brands is harder than it sounds.
Indy Chamber, Indy Partnership, and Life in Indy each serve different audiences with different needs and different tones. But they share a mission, and they share a moment. The brand architecture has to hold all three together without flattening them — creating coherence without erasing distinction. Get that right, and the brands amplify each other. That's the standard we're designing to.
A brand and a platform aren't the deliverables. Fuel, retention, and perception are.
It's easy to measure a brand refresh by how many people say they like the new logo. It's harder, and more important, to measure whether the new identity is actually moving the needle on the outcomes that matter to the Indy region.
We think about success in terms of the Chamber's own metrics:
On brand:
Success means a refreshed visual and verbal identity that makes Indy Chamber feel like what it is: an organization leading a region into its most competitive era. It means three interconnected brands that each speak clearly to their distinct audiences while sharing unmistakable DNA. It means internal alignment: staff, board members, and partners who feel proud to carry the brand forward. And it means an identity system built to scale, one that works as fluently on a digital platform as it does on a billboard or a board presentation.
On digital:
Success means a digital ecosystem that converts. A prospective resident who lands on LifeInIndy.com and finds a neighborhood that feels like home. A site selector who pulls data on the Indianapolis region and finds a platform that projects confidence and competitiveness. A small business owner who renews their Chamber membership because the member portal made it easy and the value was obvious. These aren't UX goals; they're the Accelerate Indy 2030 goals, expressed through a digital experience.
The brand informs the platform. The platform activates the brand. When both are built by the same team, with the same strategic foundation, the result isn't just coherence — it's momentum.
This is the kind of work JDA exists to do: complex, meaningful, and rooted in a place we call home. JDA empowers the extraordinary, and the Indy Chamber's transformation is exactly that. This proposal is our answer to both RFPs, built as one engagement, because we believe the strongest outcome comes from one partner carrying a single strategic vision from brand through digital. We're ready to get after it.
Strategy first.
Then every pixel earns its place.
For the Indy Chamber, this isn't a single brand refresh; it's a brand architecture challenge across three organizations, three audiences, and one underlying mission. That requires more than good design. It requires a strategic foundation built with intention, and a partner who understands not just the craft of branding, but the city it's being built for.
JDA has spent more than two decades doing this work in Indianapolis. We know the civic fabric, the regional ambitions, and the momentum this city has built over time. That context doesn't come from a discovery brief — it comes from being here, growing here, and genuinely believing in where this region is headed. We bring that perspective to every strategic decision we make on behalf of this brand.
At JDA, brand strategy is a discipline. Across more than 150 brand engagements, we've developed a methodology that moves organizations from discovery through launch with clarity at every step — beginning with deep research, stakeholder interviews, competitive landscape analysis, and audience mapping. Then we build through brand positioning, architecture, verbal identity, visual identity, and standards, all the way through internal activation and rollout.
What the brand system delivers
By the time the brand engagement is complete, the Indy Chamber will have more than a new visual identity. It will have a strategic foundation complete with positioning, voice principles, and narrative frameworks for each brand. It will also include a visual identity system designed to work across digital, print, environmental, and social applications. It will have a messaging matrix that maps audience to brand to channel, ensuring every communication feels intentional and on-strategy. And it will have a launch and rollout plan that sequences the brand reveal with the digital ecosystem launch — so the two don't just coexist, they amplify each other.
That's the standard we're building to. Here's the process that gets us there.
Brand Insights, Audits, + Research
Every engagement begins with listening. Through discovery workshops, leadership interviews, employee surveys, brand review audits, competitive landscape analysis, and brand strength research, we build a clear and honest picture of where each brand stands today, and what it needs to move forward.
Brand Positioning + Architecture
With discovery complete, we establish the strategic foundation. Positioning workshops define where each brand stands and why it matters. Brand Architecture defines how Indy Chamber, Indy Partnership, and Life in Indy relate to one another, defining the roadmap for balancing alignment and distinction. From there, we build the brand platform: purpose, vision, mission, core values, value proposition, brand promise, and brand character for each entity.
Naming Evaluation + Exploration
The Indy Chamber has indicated openness to exploring a new naming system should the process reveal a compelling opportunity. If discovery and strategy surface that case, Phase 03 is where that conversation happens, covering naming evaluation, namestorm sessions, construct development, final recommendation, tagline, and URL naming.
Note: Naming is not reflected in the current timeline or investment. Should the Chamber wish to explore this path, it would be scoped as a separate workstream.
Verbal + Visual Brand System
With strategy set, we bring each brand to life. The verbal brand system establishes voice, tone, headlines, CTAs, and brand messaging for each entity and connects to brand audience segments for integrated messages. Brand mark development produces primary and secondary marks, endorsement marks, logo libraries, and animations. The visual brand system completes the picture with color, typography, photography direction, graphic elements, and illustration, all unified by shared design DNA, distinct in personality.
Original Media + Brand Collateral
A brand is only as strong as the assets that carry it into the world. Original photography, video, and illustration give the Indy Chamber ownable visual content built specifically for this identity. Brand collateral applies the refreshed system across an initial set of key digital channels, print materials, and employee experience touchpoints.
Note: Original media production is not included in the current investment and would be scoped separately. If not pursued, JDA will provide comprehensive photography and illustration style direction to guide future content creation.
The Definitive Brand Guide
The Brand Management Standards document is the definitive, robust guide to the Indy Chamber's brand system, covering brand strategy, verbal branding, visual identity, usage guidelines, and collateral applications in full. Built for day-to-day implementation and long-term stewardship, it ensures everyone who touches the brand has everything they need to carry it forward consistently.
Brand Transition + Rollout
The final phase sequences the brand from internal alignment to external activation. Transition planning ensures a smooth handoff from the current identity to the new one. Roll-in brings the organization along first, building pride and alignment before the brand goes public. Roll-out then activates the identity externally, sequencing the brand reveal with the digital ecosystem launch.
Brand Case Studies
Two engagements that reflect the strategic depth, creative range, and identity transformation expertise we'd bring to the Chamber's brand evolution.
Resultant
Full brand engagement for KSM Consulting's transformation into Resultant — honoring existing equity while signaling a bold next chapter.
The Exchange
Full brand refresh for a whiskey and craft cocktail bar, elevating the identity to match the quality of the experience.
A digital ecosystem
built to accelerate.
Three digital properties, one member experience layer, and a regional vision ambitious enough to demand that all of them work as one. The Indy Chamber's digital ecosystem must do more than inform — it must convert. Members, investors, residents, and talent each need a clear, compelling path from first click to meaningful engagement.
At JDA, digital ecosystems are built from the infrastructure up. HubSpot and Salesforce aren't bolted on at the end. They're core to how we architect every platform from day one, ensuring that data flows cleanly, audiences are engaged intelligently, and every interaction across the ecosystem moves the Chamber's mission forward.
Development Process
A six-phase approach that begins with discovery and delivers a fully integrated digital ecosystem.
Discovery & Strategy
Every digital engagement begins with a thorough audit of the existing web presence, including analytics, content, user journeys, and technical infrastructure. We map audience pathways, identify gaps and opportunities, document UX recommendations, and establish the technical requirements that will guide every decision that follows.
Architecture & UX Design
With discovery complete, we establish the structural foundation. Information architecture, wireframes, user flows, and interaction design are developed across all properties, ensuring every audience has a clear, intuitive path from first click to meaningful engagement. Member portal evaluation and recommendations are completed during this phase.
Visual Design
With architecture approved, we apply the refreshed brand system to every page across all properties. High-fidelity mockups, a component-based design system, responsive design specifications, and stakeholder review cycles ensure the visual experience is consistent, on-brand, and built for scale before a single line of code is written.
Development & Integration
The build phase brings the full ecosystem to life. Frontend and backend development, CMS configuration, HubSpot and Salesforce integration, membership calculator, ad platform, AI-powered chatbot, and neighborhood selector tool are all developed and connected during this phase, engineered to work together from the ground up.
QA, Migration & Training
Before launch, every property undergoes rigorous cross-browser and device testing, performance optimization, and a full WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit. Content migration is executed with care, the team is trained on all platforms and tools, and complete documentation is delivered to ensure the Chamber can manage and grow the ecosystem with confidence.
Launch & Post-Launch
A staged launch strategy ensures every property goes live on schedule and performs from day one. Post-launch monitoring, performance optimization, and a 90-day support period covering bug fixes, adjustments, and analytics review ensure the ecosystem is fully stabilized and delivering results before the engagement closes.
Digital Consulting + Support
The launch of a new digital ecosystem is a beginning, not a finish line. Beginning in July 2026, JDA will provide dedicated website support for Indy Partnership as the broader digital buildout continues. Upon the launch of all three websites and the member portal, that support expands into a full digital consulting engagement — covering platform performance, maintenance and security updates, CMS training and staff support, content guidance, and proactive strategic recommendations as the brand and digital ecosystem mature together. This engagement runs through July 2027, ensuring the Chamber has a committed partner through its first full year of operating at full capacity.
What the digital ecosystem delivers
The digital engagement produces a fully integrated, brand-aligned ecosystem across all three properties — purpose-built for the audiences each platform serves and engineered to grow alongside the Accelerate Indy 2030 roadmap. Here's how we'd build it.
Technical Approach
WordPress as the primary CMS for IndyChamber.com, LifeInIndy.com, and the Indy Partnership microsite — consistent with the current build and our deep WordPress expertise. Custom theme development with shared design system components. Headless architecture evaluation for Member Portal if rebuild is recommended.
Full HubSpot integration across all public-facing sites for marketing automation, lead scoring, chatbot deployment, and email workflows. Salesforce integration for the Member Portal to sync membership data, invoicing, and directory management. API-layer architecture for clean data flow between platforms.
Managed WordPress hosting (WP Engine or Flywheel) for reliability, speed, and security. CDN delivery for performance. Staging environments for each property. Scalable infrastructure designed to grow with the Accelerate Indy 2030 roadmap.
Digital Ecosystem Case Studies
Two engagements that reflect the complexity, accessibility requirements, and user-centered thinking we'd bring to the Chamber's digital ecosystem.
Special Olympics Indiana
Full website redesign centered on simplicity, storytelling, and streamlined user journeys for athletes, volunteers, and supporters.
Christian Healthcare Ministries
Turning a 2,800-page digital maze into a clear, conversion-driven experience for thousands of members who depended on it daily.
JDA Worldwide.
Indianapolis, at heart.
JDA Worldwide is a full-service marketing and communications firm with roots in Indianapolis that stretch back nearly four decades. Our founder, Brad Benbow, has been building brands and businesses in this city since 1987 and JDA has grown alongside Indianapolis ever since. We know this region not as a market, but as home.
We believe the work we do has a responsibility beyond the brief to the clients we serve, the communities they operate in, and the cities we share. That conviction shapes how we show up for every partner we take on.
We are headquartered in Indianapolis with offices in Washington, D.C. and Nashville, TN. JDA has proudly been named one of the best places to work in Indiana for 6 straight years and is on a 9-year run on the Inc 5000.
Your JDA Team
The following leaders will be assigned to the Indy Chamber engagement. Each brings deep expertise in their discipline and a track record of delivering complex, multi-brand projects.
The Prolific Network
JDA is a portfolio company of Prolific, the growth firm. Prolific holds a collection of companies and capabilities focused on one thing — growth. When you work with JDA, you access the full capabilities of the Prolific family, including Conquer, a national paid media agency, and Chernoff Newman, an integrated communications firm, bringing national scale to a team that is fundamentally, and proudly, local.
The growth firm. Consulting, strategy, capital, and marketing services combined into one cohesive growth experience for partners.
National paid-media agency driven by marketing science, predictive analytics, and long-standing national media relationships. A top buyer of major networks.
Integrated communications company combining creativity with business know-how to deliver cross-channel solutions based on research and driven by results.
What our partners say.
“The most coordinated, well-executed launch of a high-performing website I have ever seen.”
“The creative genius of JDA has enabled the Ark Encounter to reach a level of marketing and growth that has raised the bar for advertising such a world-class facility.”
“Not only did you help raise the museum's brand awareness from just over 0 to up over 11% through the 'Experience the Book' campaign, you also changed the expectation of visitors and reshaped the perception of our target audience.”
Additional references and detailed case studies available upon request. For direct contact with any reference, please reach out to Tony Miranda at tmiranda@jdaworldwide.com.
Proposed investment.
Two distinct scopes. One integrated strategy. Pricing below is for a 12-month engagement beginning at each RFP's proposed commencement date. Both fall within the stated budget caps.
Commencement: May 1, 2026 · ~14 weeks for core deliverables
Commencement: July 1, 2026 · ~24 weeks for full ecosystem delivery + 12-month support
We are proposing both scopes as a bundled package — one agency, one vision, one seamless rollout. Engaging JDA for both RFPs allows for tighter brand-to-web cohesion, shared project management overhead, and a stronger long-term partnership with the Chamber. We're also happy to discuss alternative engagement structures if the Chamber prefers a different timeline or phasing for optimal rollout.
Client references
Additional references and detailed case studies available upon request. For direct contact with any reference, please reach out to Tony Miranda at tmiranda@jdaworldwide.com.
Ready to accelerate.
JDA confirms availability to begin brand refresh work on May 1, 2026 and web development on July 1, 2026. Both timelines are designed to align with the Accelerate Indy 2030 launch cadence.
Additional Considerations
Indy Chamber Membership: JDA Worldwide will be renewing our Signature Membership ($5,500) in May 2026, and pledging an additional $5,000 in sponsorship dollars toward Chamber events from May 2026 through May 2027. JDA is also working with Chamber leadership to determine whether a JDA leadership member could join the Indy Chamber Board of Directors in 2026.
Local Presence: JDA is headquartered in Indianapolis. Our team is available for in-person collaboration, stakeholder workshops, board presentations, and launch events. This isn't a remote engagement — we're your neighbors.
Unified Engagement: While these RFPs are structured separately, we believe the strongest outcome comes from a single partner delivering both brand and digital in coordination. The brand informs the platform. The platform activates the brand. Separating them creates risk; unifying them creates momentum.
We love Indy.
We dream big.
We move together.
Let's build the digital future of the Indy region — together.
