Carers First was founded by a group of passionate individuals who were all facing the challenge of providing unpaid care to people close to them. Sharing this common ground and having experienced first-hand the many issues facing unpaid carers, they launched Carers First in 1991. Today, the organisation continues to provide practical help and support to carers like them, enabling them to strike the right balance between caring for others and still living their own lives to the full.
As an organisation delivering support from eight local sites across the country, Carers First’s geographically branded marketing and communications materials were being ordered by each individual office and from various sources. They recognised the need to unify their print and merchandise process to drive consistency across the brand, but still ensure that each site retained a degree of autonomy and control over their individual ordering.
“The portal is built around our requirements and we’re delighted with how it has improved our processes and time efficiencies, as well as giving us greater control over our branded assets. ”
The obvious choice for Carers First was the Ruddocks’ Digital Store Front (DSF) system. Having showcased the system and its benefits to the charity, we created their dedicated design and print portal which has now been fully implemented.
The system has successfully aligned the communications output for each site, empowering localised teams to order printed materials tailored to their location, in just a few clicks.
Supporting brand cohesion
Stability, steadfastness, and reliability are all fundamental values at Carers First. With our help, this is now something that’s reflected in all their engagement and communications assets, across every channel.
From the quality of materials to the consistency of the brand messaging across print and digital outputs, with our help all collateral is now aligned and instantly recognisable at every touch point.
As an organisation delivering tailored support whenever it’s needed, Carers First have seen immediate benefits from using our DSF system.
Their bespoke portal has empowered them to be able to easily order from a selection of standard stock items, on demand. These have included posters, postcards, and a range branded merchandise, such as pens and balloons.
We’ve also made it easy for them to adapt and personalise items themselves by providing their team with easy-to-use branded templates. This allows them to update artwork themselves, without the need for specialist design skills, saving them time and valuable budget. That’s something that’s been particularly beneficial for regularly updated items which are tailored to specific areas, such as their ‘What’s On Guide’, published regionally to highlight and promote upcoming events in specific districts.
