Cascaid to help RSPB 'stretch' its brand
Howard Lake | 17 September 2007 | News
The RSPB is planning to develop and ‘stretch’ public perception of the its bird conservation work: it wants to achieve a broader understanding of its work with wider wildlife conservation and global environmental issues. It has appointed Cascaid as its strategic partner for brand positioning and communications to help it achieve this.
Following a brand review and market analysis and an agency tender, the account was awarded to Cascaid after a final three-way pitch.
Cascaid will work closely with RSPB staff to ensure brand continuity and consistency across all communications, both internally and externally. The partnership will address all major programmes and key activities, including member recruitment and supporter development, campaigning and lobbying for change, events, face to face and onsite materials.
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It is a major undertaking: RSPB has over 1,600 staff working at several hundred locations in the UK alone.
Rob George, Head of Marketing Insight and Systems at the RSPB, said that, while over 80% of the UK population is aware of the charity, many people did not know about its work on bigger environmental issues such as climate change, or its international work and campaigning. “We want to build on this awareness”, he said, “and Cascaid is helping us to develop a new and engaging tone of conversation that is accurate scientifically yet emotionally compelling at the same time”.
Cascaid and the RSPB will be defining new audiences linked to interests, motivations and values. They plan to use an extensive media mix including direct mail, inserts, press ads, posters, signage, telephone, face to face, significant online activity and possibly radio and TV.
Roger Lawson, Strategy & Planning Director of Cascaid, explained: “Emotive engagement is the key, we want people to truly understand how relevant the RSPB’s work is to both the health of the planet and to them personally. Those special moments when you connect with nature, whether it’s a walk in the countryside, spotting a hovering kestrel, or swimming in a clean ocean, are vitally connected to the conservation of the environment that not only birds but all living things require, including us! If prospects understood the RSPB’s role in working to preserve this for us all, they would be more likely to support.”
Among Cascaid’s first work is the creation of new messages for direct membership recruitment that build understanding of what the RSPB delivers for conservation. Still in development, it is expected to begin with a focus on ‘personal connections’ with nature. The series will then continue and explore the bigger picture of global issues, pulling the elements together in ‘speaking up for nature’.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.