Having worked with leading equine welfare charity Bransby Horses on a number of successful projects over the last 2 years, we were thrilled when we were recently commissioned to develop their existing brand.
So that we could understand Bransby Horses better as an organisation, their team and the roles they play, as well as what it is they wanted to achieve, we ran a detailed discovery session with them looking at their values, purpose and objectives, the issues they were facing, who their supporters are and what they value about the charity, and who else they wanted to reach.
Evolution and fundraising focused
The charity has evolved significantly since they last invested in their brand over 8 years ago and they felt the existing brand, which had served them very well, no longer accurately represented and positioned them in line with who they are now. They identified that to be able to grow they needed to develop their identity and redefine their positioning in order to reach and resonate with new supporters, particularly a younger audience, as well as retaining the loyalty of their existing supporters.
Through the recent expansion of their fundraising team it became clear that to achieve their objectives the brand needed to work more effectively and stand out across different channels and applications. This was particularly critical given the huge shift over the last decade to digital marketing and fundraising activities; specifically email, web and social media but it was equally important that the brand worked effectively to support marketing across traditional platforms such as newsletters and merchandise, as well as their representation on equine forums and shows.
Stronger and braver
We introduced a stronger, braver word mark, leading with a bold blue colour which incorporates horse and donkey silhouettes in the mark, supported by a lighter blue to retain familiarity and consistency with the old brand. To help them better tell the story of what they do we also included the supporting messaging ‘Rescue and Welfare’ to use alongside their word mark.
The logo includes various elements, which are strong enough to work independently of the mark across various applications, giving greater channel flexibility particularly on digital promotions as well as merchandise.
Friendly, emotive and sympathetic
The charity’s primary purpose is the rescue and welfare of equines and part of building greater awareness, and in turn support for its life-saving work, is done through building emotive connections with supporters and potential supporters.
Three distinct and complimentary fonts are now part of the brand, from the professional headline typeface through to the supporting and friendly handwritten style font used to give a personal touch, addressing one of their key considerations, that their supporters should be communicated with like a friend.
A selection of supporting illustrations have been developed to work with, and enhance photography and other graphical elements on promotional literature to add playfulness and an individual character to the brand.
Prior to the brand refresh, Bransby Horses had identified various projects to be prioritised as part of the initial roll out including updating their on-site signage and refurbishing their onsite shop. They wanted this to be more reflective of their natural, outdoor environment, and the earthy, natural colourways and patterns used across the whole brand, all inspired by the surroundings at Bransby, have led to the creation of signage that fits far more sympathetically with their countryside environment.
Feedback and results
Feedback from stakeholders including staff, supporters and the local public has been very positive. Whilst the rebrand has only recently been introduced, it has been a catalyst to gain traction on social media and refresh and renew many of their promotional activities. It was timed with the start of their winter merchandise campaign which has allowed them to create, update and promote products such as their children’s Christmas story book ‘Pudding’s Christmas Miracle’, a branded calendar and writing paper which have now become some of their best sellers.
We recognised the need to be braver and bolder in our marketing activities, particularly given the increasing numbers of people seeing the brand across the multiple platforms on which our profile was visible, and the refreshed brand has been a starting point for much of that.
Sally commented further:
“The success of the project was wholly dependent on gaining buy in from our staff and our supporters. The updated brand has been very well received, and has been especially prominent on digital channels given the impact of COVID 19.
We are absolutely delighted with the results so far. Implementing the updated brand has addressed many of our challenges and already delivered on a number of our objectives; generating income through increased merchandise sales as well as allowing us to move many other projects forward which is helping us continue our mission to improve the lives of horses, ponies, donkeys and mules through rescue, rehabilitation, rehoming and education.”
You can read more about Bransby Horses and the fantastic work that they do here: bransbyhorses.co.uk