How the Lance Armstrong Foundation Became LIVESTRONG
In 2004 Milkshake Media was asked by The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) to redesign a section of its site dedicated to online resources for cancer survivors. After conducting user research the Milkshake team lead by founder Katherine Jones suggested launching a new brand that would fulfill what users were truly passionate about. In addition to access to a comprehensive source for medical resources users also wanted to share intensely personal stories and interact with other survivors with similar experiences. With approval from LAF to proceed our team went to work and focus tested hundreds of names for the proposed brand over a 3 month period. In the end one of my offerings, "LIVESTRONG" resonated and was selected to be the foundation of what was to become a global phenomenon. The work was quickly noticed by Nike who partnered with the LAF to put it onto a rubber bracelet they were testing on athletes. In less than two years, LAF's annual revenue rocketed from $15 million to $40 million and LIVESTRONG went on to inspire those whose lives had been touched by cancer and become a worldwide symbol of the fight to defeat the disease.
In 2009 The Lance Armstrong Foundation officially was renamed LIVESTRONG Foundation, the rare example of a parent brand being overtaken by its own offshoot.
