Case study: New brand, new website for Quartet
Sowing the seeds of change for Quartet Community Foundation
The project: Brand refresh and new website for Quartet Community Foundation, November 2021 to May 2022.
My services: Stakeholder research and insight, website content strategy and content leadership, content writing workshops.
Collaborators: Sue Bush, The Co-Foundry - brand strategy and design; Andy Webb, Dreamabstract - website development.
The challenge
Quartet connects generous local donors with vital community projects on the ground in the West of England.
Quartet has evolved over time: 30+ years of gradual change and then rapid transformation as a result of the pandemic in response to pressing and urgent local needs. With a new CEO and new members of the team and board, this was an important moment for Quartet and a good time for introspection, external listening and action.
The old brand, messaging and website were no longer fit for purpose. It was time for a refresh. The aim? Wider recognition, awareness and understanding, and broader reach with a more diverse audience.
The big questions for Quartet: “How do we motivate more people to become involved, with services that attract and are relevant to a new generation of fund holders?”
Quartet’s ultimate goal was to increase long-term, sustainable funding for grassroots voluntary and community groups with an even greater impact for communities in the West of England in the years ahead.
Our approach
To deliver this project I joined forces with brilliant brand strategist and brand design consultant Sue Bush and her small team from The Co-Foundry, and web developer Andy Webb from Dreamabstract.
Research and insight to set the rebrand on firm foundations
My research work kicked off the project, setting the direction of the brand and website based on evidence, not assumption.
I carried out extensive stakeholder research, mapping Quartet’s audience and conducting over 20 in-depth 1:1 interviews with internal stakeholders, external partners and fundholders to gain a deep understanding of needs, issues and opportunities.
“Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.”
The resulting stakeholder research report highlighted how Quartet is perceived from the outside, providing insight into the challenges facing stakeholders and analysing the way people talk about Quartet to help find the words to communicate the message with maximum impact.
Spend time listening to your audience and you’ll learn where your true value lies.
The findings of the research phase were distilled into the brand strategy – defining Quartet’s mission, vision, purpose, values and personality, plus audience-focused value propositions.
Brand design/creative
Working in close collaboration with Quartet’s team, Sue prepared the creative brief and led on the execution of the brand identity design, tone of voice and messaging, brand guidelines and website design and build.
Content strategy and editing support
Content is often the trickiest part of any website project, and too often left too late, putting undue stress on over-stretched internal teams and holding up delivery.
I led on content strategy and content design to ensure that Quartet avoided this and got a website that delivered on their strategic aims and the promise of the new brand. And importantly, that it was well-written, outward-looking and audience-focused in structure, tone and design (more ‘you, you, you’ than ‘we, we, we’).
New website for Quartet
This was no small website - working closely with the Quartet team, I provided hands on editing and writing support to get the writing done.
Creating valuable content requires real teamwork. The knowledge is in the business, and it’s a collective group task to gather this knowledge and turn it into good web content. Quartet’s wonderful team shares a truly collaborative ethos. I worked closely with experts in the business, running supportive and structured writing sessions to make it as easy as possible for them to deliver the content needed alongside their busy day jobs.
The website was designed content first to ensure it connected with Quartet’s audiences and delivered the information they needed. The new site launched on time and to budget (despite several bouts of Covid - and one nasty scooter accident - amongst our project delivery team!).
Results
“Eight months on from the rebrand and launch, I still feel immensely proud of and inspired by the new identity. It draws lots of positive comments from people locally and further afield, from amongst other community foundations and charities. In terms of how it looks and how it reads, it’s an extremely strong and powerful identify.”
The new brand and website have gone down a storm both inside and outside Quartet. The organisation now has an authentic brand identity and communications platform that:
Resonates with their different audiences
Reflects their character, vision, values and strategic aims
Stands out from the competition
And a new more accessible, user-friendly website, designed with the diverse West of England audience in mind.
This gives Quartet the platform, confidence and clarity needed to help achieve its fundamental purpose: deep rooted change in the region.
“Creating a successful brand identity means you need nuggets of insight that enable the designer to create an emotionally engaging piece of work. This is what Sonja does so well in her research, she digs under the surface of what the target audience thinks to reveal this gem of insight. This has enabled brand strategist Sue and her team to confidently create an identity for Quartet with a heart that engages and resonates with the target audience.
But the new Quartet identity does more than that. Seeing it come to life at the recent Annual Celebration event that brings together Quartet’s donors and charities, it now enables Quartet to share its message with clarity, cut through and confidence. You could see how proud the staff are to have a brand identity that truly reflects the brilliant work that they do.”
Lessons from Quartet’s CEO Suzanne Rolt
Suzanne Rolt, CEO, Quartet Community Foundation
I asked Quartet’s CEO, Suzanne Rolt what she’d learned through the rebrand and website process. As ever, she came up with insightful thoughts for any organisation embarking on a similar process.
1. When it comes to a rebrand, timing is all
Recognise that the world changes and that it’s vital that an organisation regularly reviews how it communicates with, and is seen, by the outside world. Plan to review brand every 5-8 years, whether for a refresh or renewal.
Ensure you allow time as an organisation for everyone to be involved in the process, from staff to Trustees and external partners and supporters. The more you can do by way of research and preparation, the more confident you will become in creating a strong brief and shaping the final outcomes.
Be prepared for the work to start conversations that will run far beyond the timetable of the brand process – view this with positivity.
2. Brand is more than a logo
Our brand review was a powerful way of pressing pause on routine activity and spending quality time looking at our organisation, the journey it’s been on and developments that have taken place.
Also, a time to look to the future and to think about our strategy and how it aligns with our vision, mission and values.
It’s a function of the whole organisation, not just the marketing department.
3. Keep an open mind
You may not always hear what you want to hear but if you listen carefully you’ll find the nuggets, and sometimes not from the people you expect – so listen to all voices and engage widely.
Open your organisation up to creative suggestions and solutions – you don’t have to be a cultural sector organisation to benefit from creative approaches!
4. Look outside your organisation
By engaging an external consultancy, you gain from skills and experience that seldom reside within an organisation.
You can also step back when appropriate and allow them to lead on conversations – some people are far more comfortable speaking in an honest way to an impartial 3rd party rather than the organisation itself.
It’s a process that can energise and bring together your whole organisation around a common sense of purpose.
It is though labour intensive and you need to choose the right moment to embark on a project of this scale and you need to budget carefully – spend time getting the brief right so that you can be clear about the outcomes you expect.
Massive thanks to Suzanne, Di, Ronnie, Caroline and the brilliant Quartet team for this fantastic project. And to collaborators, Sue and Andy. Honoured to work on this with you all on this important project.
“It’s been a real pleasure to work with Sonja and Sue and the whole team feels the same way. They’ve listened closely from the start, got to understand the organisation from top to bottom, and guided us through the process with confidence and patience. They would be at the top of my list of recommendations for any future work.”
Further reading:
Check out Quartet’s fabulous new website: https://quartetcf.org.uk
Learn about philanthropy in the West of England, through Quartet’s latest report - Vital Signs.
Read The Co-Foundry’s case study of the brand strategy and design elements of this project - Sowing the seeds of change for Quartet.
Hear Sue and my view on the surprising secret of any successful rebrand.