June 2022 - Business Branding, Rebrands. Brand Refreshes and Brand Marketing

The Brand Surgery recently rebranded England and Wales Blind Golf (EWBG). This project is an example of our Brand Transformer™ customisable rebrand package, where the charity was reaching out to a new audience. There are four outstanding factors that make England Wales Blind Golf such an amazing charity to work with, and in turn has made the rebrand a success.The level of trust demonstrated by visually impaired board members, which I go on to explain below.The passion, commitment, and PR skills promoted by EWBG’s secretary ad his wife, Andy and Mel Gilford The shared value that EWBG creates for people who are lonely and visually impaired.The EWBG members I spoke with shared many inspirational stories of their challenges and successes, which have changed my thinking. First off, if you don’t like to read, please click on this excellent video, produced by The One Show then scroll into 13:15 minutes where you can watch Richie Anderson chatting to Andy Gilford and his lovely wife, Mel. In this video, you will learn in three minutes how incredible the charity is.How does one design a logo for visually impaired clients?Originally this was going to be the blog title, however, the more I reflected when writing, the people behind the EWBG brand have an incredibly strong vision for their charity, which far outweighs any visual disability. In fact, some 20:20 sighted people can learn from EWBG.It’s important to understand that visual impairment is categorised into several categories, depending on the level of sight. The golfers I spoke to were graded between B1 to B3 and most had gradually lost their sight through conditions including undetected glaucoma. I happen to be visually impaired in my right eye, and I am mindful of what can go wrong if we don’t maintain our eyes with regular checkups.Logo design (the pretty bit which excites most clients) forms only 50% of rebranding. The rest is improving or repositioning how the brand is perceived. In other words, what do people think of when they think of EWBG? Rather than guess, I interviewed EWBG members, who shared their personal challenges and wish lists for the charity. I gained valuable insights which helped me create relevant copy for EWBG marketing brochures.From the interviews and meetings, I was able to understand that there were three clear segments that EWBG needed to appeal to: Members (all ages), Guides and Corporate Partners. The Brand Surgery designed one brochure per segment in different colours, so the members could easily distinguish which was which: Green to attract corporate partners and funders, blue to attract young and older members, and red to attract guides.I presented the logo and brochure designs via PDF and quickly learned that I needed to change the printing spreads to reading spreads to make proofing easier. The board member’s partners, who had sight, described the logo to their partners and board members and a decision was made – yay – which you can see in the images above.Andy’s passion and commitment to grow EWBGI’ve known Andy for several years and when I hear him tell his story about how EWBG has changed his life, he normally makes me cry! Andy is a B2 (sight category) which means he has the ability to recognize the shape of a hand up to visual acuity of 20/600 and/or a visual field of fewer than five degrees in the best eye with the best practical eye correction (Source: USA Blind Sports).The Brand Surgery states in its T&Cs that clients must invest in marketing in order for their rebrands to be successful. Andy is a natural PR and marketing guru, and it is his work alone that secured The One Show, and he has also got the charity on Sky Sports. Andy’s wife, Mel, is a constant support for Andy and their endless energy, commitment, and passion are an inspiration to me.Shared value for loneliness and visually impaired peopleThrough the interviews with members, there was a theme emerging and shining: EWBG members previously felt isolated and lonely. Through my work with Carers Support, where I learned that carers often felt lonely, I had an epiphany. What if we could match lonely individuals with EWBG? A match made in heaven. I know that ‘lack of time’ was a challenge for EWBG attracting guides in the past. Anyway, through this insight, and Andy’s amazing PR skills, EWBG have now connected with Time Bank charity and I will report on progress soon. Through Andy’s passion and commitment, conversations, research and creative work, EWBG board now has a set of colourful and relevant brochures that they are proud of and want to share to attract new members, guides and corporate partners.ConclusionA rebrand is a success when the board takes equal responsibility for growing the brand and when they recognise that logo design forms only 50% of the rebrand. I loved hearing the courageous journeys of the visually impaired through the personal stories I heard when talking to members and guides. The best bit is when research insights are used wisely, and clients can then see the benefits of the interviews and research.Important note to readers:Please get your eyes regularly checked. Jason lost his sight through undetected glaucoma: 40 years of damage without knowing he had it, and then it was too late.If you are lonely, then consider becoming a guide for EWBG. Not only will the quality of your life improve, you will improve the life of a visually impaired golfer: Double bubble 😊Please contact EWBG to enquire about becoming a guide, funder or member, using this link. Book a chat with me using this link, or if you hate forms, as I do, call me on 07909 693172.

What makes a rebrand a success? My journey with England and Wales Blind Golf explains …

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