Speaking at a recent CharityComms conference, Brand Communications Consultant, Dan Dufour told delegates about how to manage a successful rebrand. Dufour’s presentation was focused around establishing a clear plan before starting the rebranding process, as well as considering all the important steps involved in the procedure.
He was joined by Fiona Lyndon, Brand Manager for Action for Children (formerly known as NCH), who discussed her experience of working on Action for Children’s recent major rebrand.
Is your brand healthy?
Rebranding can be an incredibly useful process to help charities define exactly who they are and what they do – definitions which are surprisingly easy to lose sight of. Charities are evolving all the time, so it is easy for brands to get dusty. According to Dufour the following could be signs of an unhealthy brand:
1) Your staff have lost sight of your charity vision,
2) Your audiences are unaware of who you are and what you do,
3) Your logo does not get recognised,
4) What you are actually doing as a charity does not fit with your current values.
As with the case of Action for Children, it might be time to change your name to something people will be able to recognise easily, to update the look of your logo or to rethink the way your brand is being used.
Have a plan
As Fiona Lyndon illustrated, rebranding can be an incredibly long process taking up to five years. It is vital, therefore, that you have a carefully etched plan from start to finish covering all necessary bases to avoid wasting time.
This process should start internally, making sure all your staff have a strong understanding of branding. Dufour explained that branding is: “an expression of who you are and what you do”. Your logo, your font, your colour palette, your typography, your imagery and language should all be a reflection of your charity.
Create a brand platform
The next step is to create a brand platform. In order to have an effective brand that is true to who you are and what you do you need to establish what is and isn’t working. Through brainstorming sessions with your staff and using any brand research from the past, collate the aspects of your brand that are clear within your charity. A useful interactive exercise is to attach a vision, language and feeling to your brand through creating mood boards, allowing everyone to get a feel for what your brand is about. This part of the process gives you an opportunity to highlight your core values as a charity, as well as a chance to find problem areas that are letting your brand down. Perhaps staff are unsure of your charity’s language or do not use your brand consistently.
Think externally
The next step is to think externally and to conduct research to learn what the public know about you. Have they heard of you? What do people know and think of you? Once you know what information is missing from your brand you will be able to create a clear mission statement, which in turn will serve as a brand platform, which is vital for pitching to branding agencies. The more precise you are with your brand platform, the more creative and accurate your brand agency will be.
You will then be set to create your logo artwork, brand guidelines and templates for staff. You can also produce a ‘spirit book’ consisting of: ‘who we are statements’, your colour palette, photography and different forms of your logo and typography. This is a very useful resource for staff and encourages consistency in brand use.
Before you launch your brand externally, it is important to introduce it internally. Carry out face to face workshops with staff, so they can understand your brand and all of its elements. Fiona Lyndon explained how Action for Children went to every regional office and did interactive workshops sessions to engage their staff with the change. Similar to the mood board mentioned previously, you can create a mood book or mood film to take along to these sessions to help inspire your staff. If you sell your brand to your staff; you are encouraging them to sell your brand to the public and speak your brand language.
To conclude, the key to a successful rebrand is to first identify what it is that you need to change in order to create a brand that is truly in tune with your charity. Use your staff, as well as external resources to develop your brand platform. Once you have created your new brand it is vital you engage your staff with it before it goes live, so they feel inspired by it, allowing you to project your brand effectively to external audiences.