Charity Rebrand – Why do charities rebrand?
Rebranding a charity is a massive decision and a huge responsibility for the charity’s trustees, management and fundraising team. A charity brand is much more than just a logo or slogan, it’s about conveying the work that the charity does, the positive impact it has and demonstrating how you campaign your cause and your vision for bringing change. The challenge for agencies like Oyster, is building all this into a brand, whilst keeping it fresh and appealing.
Why do charities rebrand?
A charity’s reason for rebranding can vary, and in this blog entry we’re going to look at some of these reasons. This entry is the first of 4 entries covering our findings and experience of charity rebranding.
Oyster has been speaking with several charities recently about their potential or planned rebrand and the reasons for their decision. A charity rebrand seems to be triggered by the following key events or changes:
Change of purpose, focus or beneficiary
For example, the range of people that the charity helps may have widened or the charity mission may have changed to the degree that the existing brand no longer reflects it accurately.
Modernisation
Design has trends, and time can take a heavy toll on a brand. Sometimes the brand design just needs a refresh, but occasionally a total rebrand is called for to help the charity to achieve its goals or appeal to the new generation.
Going national
Some charities that we’ve heard from recently feel that they are seen as a locally based charity, when in fact this isn’t the case. Here charities rebrand to attract a wider level of support and also to help people who might need their services further afield to find them.
Competing charities
Sometimes the amount of charities serving a particular cause can grow. This can be due to demand for specific support increasing, the cause receiving increased press coverage or an event occurring, which requires greater support than is currently available from charities. In this instance a charity may rebrand in order to ‘compete’ with the new charities.
Examples of Charity Rebrand Rationale
There are some great examples of charity rebrands around which may give you some inspiration or guidance.
Here are a few that we’ve found
St. Dunstands > Blind Veterans UK
Process: Renaming and Rebrand
Why they chose to rebrand:
“We knew St Dunstan’s was not a well-known brand and did not explain who our target audience was or what we did,” says Andrew Jones, the charity’s director of fundraising and communications. “We needed to attract more beneficiaries, so we have gone for a clearer, more obvious name.”
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1122642/Brand-report-St-Dunstans/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH
SOVA (Supporting Others Through Voluntary Action)
Process: Rebrand
Why they chose to rebrand:
Director of PR, communications and marketing, Darshana Dholakia said: “Like many organisations, the changes in funding structures have made us look more closely at our position in the market, who we are and how we talk to people about what we do.”
Macmillan Cancer Support
Process: Rebrand
Why they chose to rebrand:
“Macmillan Cancer Support used to be best known for Macmillan nurses – providing an invaluable service to people with cancer, but often misperceived as ‘angels of death’. With 2 million people in the UK living with cancer and that number growing every day, Macmillan needed to embrace a much broader role – a source of support for anyone affected by cancer and a force for change in cancer care.” (written by Rebranding Agency).
http://wolffolins.com/work/macmillan-cancer-support
How Oyster can help
Oyster works with charities to guide them through the complete rebrand process, from surveying and influencing stakeholders, through the creative design process, to launching your new brand to the world.
Get in touch with Oyster to find out how we can help your charity to take the next step. Call 01243 589713, or email hello@oysterdesign.co.uk.
Read more about charity rebranding.
Our next ‘Charity Branding’ posts
Charity Rebrands
- Gaining support through involvement
- Designing the new brand
- Launching your new brand to the world
Coming Soon. Watch this space…
Susanne Conway April 26, 2012
Hi Anna – Thank you for using us as an example.
Anna April 26, 2012
Our pleasure Susanne! I hope your rebrand is working well for you.