International development charity the BBC World Service Trust has rebranded and changed its name to BBC Media Action.

The charity, which has existed for 12 years, launched a website to coincide with the rebrand on 23 February 2012. It reveals a new logo and the tagline ‘Transforming lives through media around the world’. BBC Media Action executive director Caroline Nursey said:

“The process of changing our name and introducing a new logo has allowed us to reflect on who we are, why we exist and where we are heading. It has also provided an invaluable opportunity to share stories, talk about what we believe in, and discuss the positive and lasting difference that our work makes to millions of people around the world.”

The BBC says the new name is short, straightforward, direct, translatable, and the term Media Action defines it as a non-governmental organisation. The new name also allows the charity to differentiate itself from the similarly named BBC Trust - the governing body of the BBC.

A budget of £8,000 was set aside to cover expenditure associated with the name change, although external branding agencies assisted the BBC at no cost with the rebrand and the hosting of stakeholder workshops. A new ‘mark’ was delivered by a branding agency at a cost of £20,000 included full branding guidelines, an animation to use on multimedia, and a range of outputs using the name in different formats. This was paid for as part of a wider portfolio of work for BBC Global News and therefore at no direct cost to the charity.