VSO

VSO is the world’s leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. Its high-impact approach involves bringing people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action, and change lives to make the world a fairer place for all. It's been fighting global poverty for over 60 years, but recently the organisation realised that it’s brand communications were failing to capture its true spirit.

This extensive 18-month project started with a comprehensive brand audit, reconsidering the ideas right at the heart of VSO around its mission, vision and beliefs. What does this brand mean to people? Does the brand bring the vision to life? Does it feel authentic, flexible and meaningful? Does the brand make VSO look and feel different to other development organisations? We employed industry trend analyses, competitor research, focus groups, online surveys and one-to-one interviews. Notably, we met over 100 people from across VSO’s global network and spent time getting a really in-depth understanding of strategy with the board and took briefings from fundraising stakeholders.

We helped VSO uncover the ideas that exist at the heart of the brand; an authentic personality and a unique position to occupy in the world. From there, we collaborated with VSO’s talented in-house design team to produce a fresh visual identity to support this new brand thinking. From simplifying the brand architecture to building richer marketing narratives, we concentrated on developing real-world tactical points of delivery, backed by a strategy that would give the new brand every opportunity to succeed. The results? A brand that looks, feels and sounds compelling, different and true.

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