Citizens Advice – Case Study

Citizens Advice invited us to pitch for a brand strategy development project they were undertaking. The charity which provides confidential advice online, over the phone and in person for free helped over 2 million people one-to-one during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and saw 62.8 million page views of their advice content during the same time.

Citizens Advice underwent a full visual rebrand in 2015, and in late 2018 undertook work to refresh their organisational narrative. They were now looking to develop a brand communication strategy to align with the organisation’s wider strategic ambitions. Before doing so they needed to gain a clear understanding of current perceptions of the brand, its strengths and weaknesses and how this has changed over time.

The first stage of the project was a large scale consultation exercise which we undertook to assess current brand awareness and perceptions. We benchmarked these findings against existing research to gauge the potential shift, identify direction of travel and map out the journey still to be taken. The research was undertaken with a representative sample of the UK population, current clients, volunteers, local and national staff, major funders including Government departments and corporate partners. We also undertook additional research with BAME respondents and those living with disabilities to ensure a truly representative view and inform aspects of the charity’s work around improving equity, diversity and inclusion. Given the lockdown restrictions and MRS guidelines all research was conducted via the telephone or online surveys. In total over 3,000 individuals were engaged.

We took the insights gained from the research and disseminated them throughout the organisation, including the Executive Leadership Team, via a series of tailored reports and presentations. The key communication insights were then fed directly into a series of online interactive workshops, alongside a SWOT and PEST analyses, to facilitate the development of the brand and marketing strategy.

We are now finalising a set of key messages which will be used across the organisation to educate key audiences and change perceptions of who Citizens Advice are and what they do.