Thames Hospice talks civilsociety.co.uk through its recent rebrand. 

What triggered the rebrand?

The charity underwent a strategic review, inviting feedback from volunteers and staff and some external insights and it was felt that the old brand didn’t truly reflect who the organisation was, the name was too cumbersome and it was time to move forward and raise its profile.

Thames Hospice has grown substantially both organically and through merger in the last 25 years but it is now looking to respond to the current, challenging economic environment by raising its profile so that it can reach even more people who may need specialist palliative care during the next 25 years.

What is the primary purpose of the rebrand?

To reposition ourselves as experts in palliative care putting ourselves front of mind for all our stakeholders from patients to healthcare professionals to supporters.

How much did it cost?

Probably far less than you imagine. Thanks to the support of some very creative people who care about the work hospices do, we have been able to engage an external creative agency to carry out the rebrand work for less than £20,000.

We timed the implementation of the work so that any other costs, like signage for shops and our new materials explaining who we are and what we do, and most noticeably our website, would fall in to expenditure we simply had to address in the year anyway.

How have you communicated with staff on it?

We have kept an open stream of communication with staff and volunteers the whole way through. We started by inviting all staff and volunteers to the strategy workshops at the beginning when we were reviewing our organisational strategy as a whole. Since then we have kept staff and volunteers up to date with regular written and face to face communication, inviting their feedback at all stages. We held bespoke meetings for retail staff who sometimes can feel on the periphery and involved them in the shops rebrand programme. When we launched the brand we invited all staff to branding workshops and we have specialist volunteer branding workshops later next month and as a treat we distributed branded cupcakes! We continue to communicate the feedback as we go along (we are taking a phased approach with the aim to have all items rebranded next year).

How have you communicated with supporters on it?

We have updated a number of our supporters via a regular giving telephone campaign we ran in August. We also ensured it was covered in the regional media with our CEO appearing on BBC Berkshire and a number of the local papers covering it. We are giving it a big launch via our supporter newsletter due to go out in September.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

How will you develop the brand moving forward?

Thames Hospice will continue to evolve and our brand will need to move with it. The new brand identity has been created with future developments in mind. The diverse colour palette will allow for sub-brands in the future, it works well online and it has a lot of versatility. We will also be running branding surveys early in 2014 to see how the brand has been received externally and will develop the brand to meet our stakeholders changing needs.

How long did the process take?

From the strategy workshops completing in March, the brand was launched on 1 August. However we are taking a phased approach and expect the full roll out to be complete by the end of this financial year.

Who managed the rebrand?

The rebrand was managed in house by initially by a marketing consultant and the senior management team, using an external agency for creative. A head of marketing was recruited in May.

How does the new brand differ from the old?

It’s fresh, it’s modern but most importantly it is warm and welcoming. A comment from one of our trustees sums it up nicely:

“It is a brilliant piece of work and I am sure it will be a great asset in making patients/families/potential volunteers feel this is the right place for them.” Because, at the end of day, that is why we are here. To provide our patients and their families with the best care possible.

 

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