Refreshed brand and website for relationship support charity
Relate, the largest provider of relationship support in England and Wales, has launched a refreshed brand and new website, aimed at increasing their appeal and relevancy to younger and more diverse audiences. They want to make clear they’re there for everyone who wants to transform their relationships.
Advertising agency Ogilvy UK worked with Relate’s Communications team to develop the new tone of voice, visual identity and brand guidelines. Ogilvy UK and Relate have a successful history together following their award winning 2021 Let’s talk the joy of later life sex campaign with photographer RANKIN. The agency undertook the brand development work at a reduced rate. Relate’s new website was developed in conjunction with Birmingham-based digital agency IE Digital. The project was made possible thanks to the National Lottery’s Digital Fund which awarded Relate £500,000 over three years to support digital innovation, which Relate is using to put users at the centre of its work.
Central to the refreshed brand is the new ‘we can Relate’ strap line. In the brand’s first outing, coinciding with the charity’s third-ever Relationships Week (5 to 11 September), the new line is deployed in social media ads with emotion and humour. The theme of the Week is ‘milestones’ and the ads promote life milestones society could better recognise like leaving an unhealthy relationship, celebrating a friendship anniversary and deciding not to have children. This simple yet adaptable line helps Relate to demonstrate it’s a brand that really understands what people are going through. The ‘we can’ element is also being used in action-focused copy that inspires friends, couples, families, colleagues, co-parents and individuals to move forward.
The new brand personality is approachable, supportive, enabling and active. The new Relate lockup is based on a new typeface called Relate Sans which has specially designed ligatures to create the feeling of connection which is so fundamental in relationships. A new warm, positive and inviting colour palette has also been selected which is a far cry from the corporate-feeling cold blue tones of the previous brand. With the brand being predominantly focused on photography, no single colour takes more prominence over another.
With support from nfp Synergy, Relate undertook extensive research with former clients, the general public and colleagues which showed the brand refresh was much needed. Ogilvy UK and IE Digital also undertook research into what users wanted from the brand and website.
We’re delighted with the results of our brand refresh project. Our previous brand was holding us back from reaching the true breadth of people we knew we could help – and this had to change. We turn 85 next year and we’ve always been ready to adapt to meet the challenges facing the nation’s relationships; this work is the next step in that evolution. By working with those we exist to support and involving colleagues across the Relate Federation from the outset, the results are much-loved internally and the early signs are that this is translating externally too. Our job now is to make the most of this opportunity: we must create engaging, targeted content and carry on innovating our service offering to help more people in new and different ways.
Ogilvy UK was delighted to strengthen our relationship with Relate by working with them to re-design and relaunch their brand. This was an opportunity to help them create a more supportive and approachable brand look and feel by creating a bespoke font where letters connect subtly - nodding to the connections at the heart of relationships. The new endline "We can relate" embraces the empathy and expertise at the heart of the brand
Relate’s old website was difficult for users to navigate and fell far short of conveying the energy, warmth and dynamism of the organisation it represented. IE have worked with Ogilvy UK and the Relate team on the new Relate website – its new look-and-feel, and the design and build of a user experience that features interactive tools, innovative ways of delivering content, and a highly accessible chat-centric approach. We’re excited and proud to have led the delivery of a real step-change in Relate’s digital experience – revamping the website into an inclusive, safe, and wholly more warm and approachable experience for its users.
The new brand and website launched at the start of Relationships Week (5 to 11 September), with the roll-out continuing in phases over the next 12 months to include Relate’s charity shops and local Centres.
ENDS
For all media enquiries including interviews with Relate Counsellor, Natasha Silverman contact Sarah Osmik on 020 7554 2895 or sarah.osmik@relate.org.uk. For urgent out-of-hours enquiries call 07875 049415.
Notes to editors:
- Relate is the largest provider of relationship support In England and Wales.
- We’re here for every relationship – from romance to roommates, from colleagues to co-parents.
- Our services include relationship counselling, family counselling, sex therapy, mediation and online self-help. You can access many of our services together or as an individual via webcam, phone, email or face-to-face.
- We’re an inclusive organisation and actively welcome people of all ages, backgrounds, relationship styles, faiths, religions, sexual orientations and genders, including anyone with health conditions or impairments.
- Relate is a registered charity number 207314.
- Millions of people every year access information, support and counselling from Relate but many more could benefit.
- For more information visit: Relate.org.uk.
Methodology
This report was conducted by Censuswide between 9 to 11 August, 2022. It was commissioned by Relate and surveyed 2022 Nationally Representative consumers in the UK. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.