Joshua Blackburn, published in Charity Times September 2002
Within this climate of change, one word in particular is appearing with increasing regularity: brand. At long last, some charities have realised that brand matters; in defining their strategy, in reaching stakeholders and in achieving their objectives. No longer the domain of corporate multinationals, brand is beginning to transform how charities think and work.
Seemingly every month another charity re-brands. Action Aid, Scope, Banardos, Cancer Research UK, NCH, RNLI, VSO, The Arthritis Research Campaign, the National Canine Defence League - the list of charity re-brands continues to grow. And with good reason - if you get it right, branding can unlock your fundraising and communications, change your organisation’s culture and offer a strategic map for the future.
But behind this silver lining lurks a cloud. The NSPCC, for instance, suffered a backlash against its Full Stop Campaign. Critics pointed out that with expenditure of over £86million, less than half was actually spent on child protection and services while nearly £30million went on fundraising and campaigns. Under the spotlight of the Victoria Climbie Enquiry, the NSPCC stood accused of losing sight of its objectives in a frenzy of fundraising.
The development of the charity superbrand is fundamentally changing the sector. Many of the largest charities have been pioneers in new techniques in campaigning, fundraising and communications using brand to underpin their marketing activities. But as the top charities become larger and more confident, they run the risk of becoming over-corporate: losing their soul beneath their shiny polished surface. We can all recognise how those brands in the corporate world regarded as domineering can seem unsympathetic and distant (look at Microsoft). The same can true in the charity sector.
Keith Bradbrook, Head of Media at the NSPCC, agrees that there’s a danger that charities can get too slick. “There’s a balancing act to perform”, he admits. This balance isn’t always clear, as the lure of media inches and direct debits become stronger. Charities can enjoy public support only so long as their brand focuses on their cause. If this focus is lost, the brand will actually work against them. “Charities must be true to their aims and true to the people they’re there to serve", says Joanna Van Driel of the Terrence Higgins Trust, "If you lose sight of that then you have problems."
"The corporates have got the hype, but not the depth. We’ve got the depth but aren’t always so good at the hype", commented Greenpeace’s Director of Marketing, Cathy Anderson. But some charities are learning the art of hype with alarming alacrity. When brand becomes a tool of this hype, and when hype becomes an end in itself, charities will find their halo slip. With expenditure of millions on brand awareness, and with campaigns seeking a larger splash, charities must never forget that brand is there to serve them and their cause, not the other way round.
There is another hidden danger that the brand evangelists must take on board. All too often, brand is equated simply with image and public profile. "When charities think brand means image, they miss the point", says Julie Alexander, Head of Communications at The Samaritans, "It starts on the inside and works out from there".
If forgotten, this critical element of brand is not simply a missed opportunity but a strategic error. Brand is an agent of change that works at every level of the organisation. When taken seriously, branding is nothing less than a process of strategic planning and implementation. It starts with identifying what an organisation stands for and continues with bringing this truth to life in every part of the group. When brand is only about image, it comes across as shallow and half-hearted. More importantly, charities are failing to respond to a fundamental need for change.
The irony in taking lessons from the corporate sector is that charities have something that businesses can only dream of: a passion and commitment that runs from supporters to volunteers to staff. Modern commercial branding seeks desperately to generate this passion, whilst charities put that very passion at risk when they fail to understand what brand is really about.
These are exciting and challenging times for charities, big and small, with branding a powerful tool at their disposal. But it comes with a health warning: master it and don’t undervalue it. Branding has a persuasive allure but it will only reap long-term rewards when it is about real change. Anything less and your cool logo will soon go cold - along with your public.