Redefining a twenty year old brand - Rationale

Redefining a twenty year old brand

The Challenge

Social Investment Business (SIB) provides loan and grant funding, alongside business support, to charities and social enterprises with the goal of building fairer and more resilient communities in the UK.

Rationale was engaged by SIB to support with strengthening their brand narrative and positioning, as well as with the design and development of a new website, that is customer-centric, future proof and able to house SIB’s thought leadership and pioneering data work. 

SIB needed a narrative brand that reflected who they are now and that surfaced the organisation’s positive impact – both for internal and external audiences. There was a need internally at SIB to better align the team with their values and its approach to cross-team working after the organisation made a permanent shift to remote working following the pandemic.

SIB Logo

The Solution

Our work with SIB has spanned each of our service lines – from research, to brand definition and asset delivery. It is a project that showcases our creative and strategic expertise in communicating with internal and external audiences.
Our aim was to support SIB, which was after twenty years of operation looking to elevate its brand, content and website to make sure it was communicating in a way that was effective and compelling for all its audiences – including social enterprise and charity partners, government and policymakers, and prospective and future employees.

To achieve this, we:

  • Delivered an in-depth insights report that set the direction of travel for the following strategies and recommendations, informed by a series of workshops, internal and external surveys, 1-2-1 depth interviews with employees and audience members, market, channel, UX, competitor and content analysis
  • Developed an communications and marketing plan that clarifies who SIB are, what they do and importantly, the positive impact that SIB has on society
  • Articulated an external value proposition and supporting narrative that uncovers all of these elements: ‘Finance and support for a more equal society’
  • Mapped out an internal comms strategy, proposition and strategic recommendations on how to embed internal comms approaches that respond to SIB’s specific challenges and encourage collaboration
  • Ideated a series of content-driven campaign ideas to build awareness of and breathe life into SIB’s re-articulated positioning and narrative for external audiences.
Website
SIB website
Explainer motion graphic

The Result

We were able to implement our strategic recommendations and SIB’s newly articulated written brand and proposition on its new website. Through the build and design of the site on WordPress, we equipped SIB with a website that is future-proof, customer-centric and able to house SIB’s thought leadership and pioneering data work.
We have also delivered against the recommendations outlined in our communications and marketing plan with the creation of content for the site including UX, blog posts, explainer videos, HR materials, and more. Our partnership with SIB is ongoing and we are in the process of developing an extensive suite of strategic content both for its internal and external audiences.
“Rationale have been excellent. They’ve taken the time to understand us as a business, supported and strengthened our strategic communications, and been responsive and flexible to our changing priorities along the way. I’d highly recommend them to anyone wanting to refresh, renew and reinvigorate their organisation’s brand and profile.”
Nick Temple

CEO, Social Investment Business

“SIB is a well-established and long-standing organisation, so re-articulating their brand in a way that connects with all audiences, wasn’t about re-inventing the wheel but actually, more a case of helping them to surface and then structure the amazing things they are already doing.”
Rowan Morrison

Managing Director, Rationale