Case study: Bristol Beacon

Bristol Beacon was already a brand success story. Key to this success was in placing cause and purpose at the heart of their thinking. From the thorough process that had supported their name change in 2020 they understood the value in stopping to take the time to thoroughly and thoughtfully examine why they existed, what they’re here to do and the difference they want to make to their community and beyond.

With a new leader and strategy they asked us back to ensure their emerging plans could serve as a vehicle for the continuation of a compelling brand story.

We worked with the leadership team to interrogate their existing brand and strategy – to be sure the brand story remained authentic and true. While largely it held water, it benefited from new focus and fresh articulation, aligning it with current plans so it felt “owned” by current teams. We simplified it down to 5 key brand stories.

The marketing team was already brought into the benefit of brand storytelling over product promotion – so next wanted to identify which areas of the future plan offered the best platforms for telling this story. We workshopped all the possible approaches and executions before testing with audiences to see where the strongest resonance lay, bringing in people from different teams who owned and would execute these plans.

• Which of the 5 stories did they find most compelling? 
• Did they respond to the same things staff imagined they did? 
• Or were there some ideas absorbed and carried as truth but remain unchecked?

We brought audiences in – recruited from key target segments – to get their perspective. We presented a series of “story stations” to share more about different aspects of Bristol Beacon’s work, purpose and brand, inviting audiences to respond to, and comment on. In focus groups, we then went into greater depth to understand more about their responses to what they’d learned.

Audiences gave us an unequivocal steer as to which made the most compelling of the stories. It also became clear the story that made the most powerful above-the-line invitation – versus the stories that would effectively deepen relationships once people were “in”.  It also highlighted where there was risk of confusion or over complication – serving to block any clear message being received.

We tested previous brand marketing campaigns showing some real “hits” and “misses” – but crucially they helped us understand why, so these learnings can be employed in future campaigns. 

With the team we created a Brand Toolkit to support the successful execution of the brand strategy. This has refined and simplified the Bristol Beacon brand story, distilled now into 4 promises.  It looks at the role each can play in effective external messaging to resonate with broad public audiences. Aligned to and serving the organisation’s Vision and Purpose, the toolkit contains:

• Audience Ambition (How we want to engage people)
• Brand Promises (What you can expect from us)
• Key Brand Message (Internal shorthand for the idea all communications should convey)
• Brand Story Funnel (Role each story plays in the journey from invitation to fandom)
• Tone of voice (How we like to communicate)

Staff and board teams are now aligned on strategy and message. The brand campaign “Sounds Better With You” is being deployed across channels and the marketing team are confident in how to reinforce the right story throughout all messaging.