Only a true partnership wins Board buy-in
Creating a brand identity is about so much more than looking attractive on the outside. It’s about creating something that rings true to the company’s values, their employees, their loyal customers – and of course that will engage new customers.
MHA are an award-winning care provider with faith at its heart. They approached our creative marketing agency for help building a brand. Together, we redefined their brand identity, created a true reflection of their brand, and an enduring strategic partnership.
MHA is one of the most respected care providers for older people and amongst the largest charities in Britain providing care, accommodation and support services. They needed help to redefine the brand proposition and more than anything, to achieve consistency and continuity. They wanted a cohesive message to run through all their services. Everyone who interacted with the brand – from residents to staff – could be sure of who MHA are and what they stand for.
Rather than diving in, we wanted to understand why three agencies hadn’t been able to complete this brief beforehand. It wasn’t through poor design. It was because being a charity, MHA have multiple stakeholders. They need reassurance that their donations are being well-spent. The outcome must be relevant in the modern care world while still supporting the organisation’s roots.
By taking the time to really understand MHA, we were keen to take every stakeholder on the journey with us.
Brand workshops
We devised a series of workshops for as many stakeholders as possible to have a voice. We asked the right questions through insightful activities to investigate brand truths, new perspectives, and new directions for building the new brand.
Brand identity
We aligned our branding activity with insights from the workshops to create a new brand proposition, strapline, logo design, colour palette, tone of voice, imagery style and messaging matrix.
Audience testing
To ensure the new brand identity was well-aligned with the organisation, we worked with a research partner to design the online questionnaire. It allowed us to create a profile of the research participants based on audience groups. This ensured we gained qualitative and quantitative findings.
Modern, cohesive brand identity
Using the research findings to refine our brand assets, we presented a comprehensive suite of brand assets and guidelines. These will enable MHA to embody a modern care provider.
By collaborating with MHA’s stakeholders and including their knowledge in the brand evolution, the Board bought into the brand refresh and were delighted with the outcome – you can see it here. To ensure MHA’s wider team were onboard with the changes, we presented the new identity to all departments. We took them on the brand journey we had been on and explained how to use the assets.
Think OTB are proud to partner with MHA, who are dedicated to tackling social isolation and loneliness for older people. Our partnership with MHA continues today delivering strategic thinking and integrated campaigns. We helped them bring to life the value of living later life well with MHA.
To see how we could partner with you to find the right solution for your brand’s challenge, speak to us at jo.waddington@otbagency.co.uk
