Our rebrand journey

The word that a number of people have used to describe taking on this rebrand process is brave…well, I wish that were so.  In fact, the reality is, I was cheerfully unaware of what a rebrand process involves! Had I known, I am not sure I would have started out with such joyous optimism!

The idea of your charity as a brand may feel a bit uncomfortable, it can somehow sound like a product, and I for one take great pride in the fact that here at Trevi, we are not too corporate …we are not too shiny or polished, we are human and hopefully fairly relatable.  The reality is however, our ‘brand’ is simply the story we tell about the work we do, and it is important that we do this clearly.  As Trevi has grown, people have started to get confused about some of our services…for example, if Sunflower Women’s Centre is a ‘Trevi service’ then how does that fit with Trevi as a mother and baby rehab?  It has also caused some issues in terms of using our logo, (that of a mother closely holding her baby). Last year we were awarded the contract to deliver the Pause Plymouth programme, which supports women who are separated from their children. The use of the logo would have been both insensitive and potentially quite upsetting.

So, now definitely seemed the right time to start thinking about how we convey our values and key messages consistently across our services…in other words…our brand.

To cut a very long story very short, it has taken around 9 months, has involved LOTS of focus groups and quite a few changes in direction. However, we have now ended up with something that is beautifully Trevi and that we are all really excited about sharing.

So, if anyone else is considering a similar process, I thought I would share a few things that I have learnt along the way…

Never underestimate people’s loyalty
It was lovely to see how many people care about Trevi, but with such loyalty comes a sense of ownership that makes change a challenging process. We wanted to change the name of our mother and baby rehab…to some people it was as if we were suggesting that they rename one of their own children! However, this loyalty has also meant that people cared about getting it right and gave their time and energy to help. We have tried to include as many stakeholders as possible; over the last 27 years we have worked with and for a lot of different people and want to ensure that they continue to feel part of our special service.

You won’t win them all
Over the last 6 months, a lot of people will have heard me say, ‘a camel is a horse designed by committee’ and that is because we can’t include everyone’s preferences. I have had to accept that there will be some folk who will not be happy with the end result, but they have been included, listened to and shaped the process in an important way.

Try not to go it alone

We were lucky to have some wise folks by our side to guide us. Thank you to the fabulous Peta Sweet, funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation Enhance package, who helped us with our stakeholder feedback, various focus groups and the pulling together of our key messages. Also thank you to local designer Jess Cook who redesigned our main Trevi logo. Last but not least, a massive thank you to Ambitions Agency who developed our different logos and really helped bring together the final look, using the illustrative approach that we have fully embraced.

We really hope that you enjoy our new look and continue to join us on the next stage of the Trevi journey as we support women and their families to grow, heal and thrive.