What makes a Brand? Raising the profile of Innit for Young People with Bruntwood Cares
Today we’re spotlighting a Funding Plus collaboration between Bruntwood and Innit for Young People (‘Innit’).
When Innit – a Salford-based charity that champions and empowers young people through creativity – came to us for Funding Plus support, they were looking to develop a clear marketing strategy. What followed was a full brand refresh, including a rebrand, new website, collateral and a social media strategy:
“Ange (Angela Lee, Deputy CEO) and I first reflected on our skills as leaders, and we realised we were completely deficient in marketing knowledge. We were proud of our outputs and the impact of our programmes, but we struggled to present them clearly. We had no defined brand identity…we reached out to the OCT to help us find a way forward.” – Micky Dacks, Founder CEO
Through Funding Plus, we linked them to two Bruntwood colleagues – Ashley Hamilton-Toth, Communications Lead & Nikki Phillips, Head of Marketing – who used their Bruntwood Cares Hours (time paid for by Bruntwood to release colleagues to work on community projects) to help Innit on their branding journey.
Ash and Nikki brought fresh eyes to the project. Over a series of meetings they helped build a top-down overview of their previous branding and marketing strategy. Doing so helped to identify gaps in their strategy, suggest areas for improvement and explore any opportunities for the charity to merge their programmes under a single umbrella, steering them onto a pathway to develop their new brand:
“From the very first meeting with Nikki and Ash, we felt supported, understood and encouraged. They took the time to listen to who we are, what we do and crucially, what we aspire to become. What followed was a series of deep and meaningful conversations about identity and visibility. Together, we explored how we could unify our many strands under a recognisable and consistent brand.”
“We ran a consultation session with our young people, gathering words, feelings and colours that they associated with Innit. We then fed this back to Nikki and Ash, and their insight was pivotal: they identified that “Innit” itself was our brand. It was suggested that we embrace “Innit For Young People” in full. This was a turning point.” – Micky
With their new, combined brand set, and with Nikki and Ash’s continuing guidance, Innit could then work closely with a graphic designer to produce a new collection of logos and brand assets. After unanimous approval by staff, trustees and their young participants, they had a visual identity that reflected the heart of their organisation.
Micky, Ange, Nikki and Ash then workshopped the profile and goals of each strand of the charity, their target audience and competitors and their overall vision and mission. This helped focus and clarify their aims going forwards, and set their marketing strategy. With their refreshed branding and strategy in hand, the next step was to build their new website:
“As a small charity, this was financially daunting as we had never had the resources to budget for comms in a strategic way, usually just covering project-specific marketing within bids. Yet, through a chance encounter with socially minded web developer Tony Silvester, who shared our passion for community impact, we were able to secure a mobile-friendly, professional website (innit.org.uk). Tony involved us at every stage, ensuring the final product was both functional and representative of our new brand.” – Micky
For Nikki and Ash, the hard work and dedication which the team at Innit showed made this a memorable and fulfilling experience:
“Working with Micky and Ange was incredibly rewarding. They approached the process with such focus and dedication, taking on board every suggestion, doing their own research and finding trusted partners to support the rebrand. Their commitment and passion for Innit shone through at every stage and it’s been fantastic to see all that hard work come to life in situ.” – Nikki Phillips, Head of Marketing at Bruntwood
Micky agrees that the sessions – though challenging – ran very smoothly and were extremely informative, valuable and necessary. Not just that, but Innit have seen clear, long-term benefits to collaborating on such a comprehensive branding and marketing project with two experts in the field:
“This entire process, from the early conversations with Bruntwood’s marketing team, through the youth consultations, the rebrand and the website build, has been genuinely transformative. Without the funding plus support of the OCT and Bruntwood, we would still be an excellent organisation delivering vital work, but we would lack the clarity, coherence and visibility we now enjoy. Today, we are a wholesome, identifiable organisation, confident in our public presence and equipped with the tools to reach wider audiences.”
“Most importantly, this has given us a platform for the future. We are now in a strong position to move forward with business planning for the next five years, with marketing and communications no longer seen as an optional add-on, but as an invested and necessary priority. This shift is pivotal in our journey from surviving to thriving, and it simply would not have happened without the generosity, expertise and belief offered through OCT and Bruntwood.” – Micky
Whilst being able to apply professional expertise to assist a charity in this way was a refreshing, rewarding and enjoyable experience for Ash and Nikki:
“I’ve always really appreciated the Bruntwood Cares opportunities, but this is the first time I’ve used my professional skills to support the charities we work with. Really getting to know Innit, Micky and Ange and getting to the roots of the organisation and what they stand for was truly rewarding. Together, we were able to challenge one another, think outside of the box and come up with a brand and marketing plan to elevate Innit and the community it supports. And it gave me the opportunity to utilise my expertise in a way that I know will really make a difference to the lives of others. I’ve no doubt there are great things in store for the team and all the young people they support.” – Ashley Hamilton-Toth, Communications Lead at Bruntwood
