Building a brand to support a country grieving

Grief.

It is a natural process, but it can be overwhelming. Which is why it is essential that when we experience grief, we can all get support.

In 2019, I embarked on a brand development journey with the charity Cruse Bereavement Care, together with independent brand and creative agency Red Stone. ?

We researched and spoke to the people who mattered most: the bereaved people accessing support, the people providing the support, the 4,000-strong army of volunteers, the people behind the scenes at Cruse and the people who hadn’t yet heard of Cruse.

Little did we know what was around the corner.

Brand strategy and positioning ?

At the start of 2020 we arrived at a lovely brand idea around Living with Loss. Based on the human insight that grieving is not a linear process or something we should get over, but something we need to learn to live with. We all experience grief in different ways and that’s OK.

But when the pandemic hit, the strategy had to pivot, like many brands. In fact, KPMG reported that 79% of CEOs reviewed their purpose as a result of Covid.

As the country faced death and grief on an unprecedented scale, Cruse was needed more than ever. Whilst service delivery was rightly the top priority, what became most important from a brand perspective, was creating something that was truly inclusive. Partly driven by the disproportionate Covid deaths amongst the BAME community. A brand with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at its heart. For people of all ages, from all walks of life.

At the start of 2021, Fiona Brydon, Director of Communications and Digital at Cruse, used the learnings of the pandemic to reframe the brand positioning around the idea ‘You’re Not Alone’ and the values Kind, Genuine, Inclusive and Ambitious. These new values tell the people of the UK: Cruse’s helpline, trained volunteers, online chat feature and one-to-one sessions, are for everyone and anyone who is grieving. Grief doesn’t discriminate and neither does Cruse.

Naming

Starting out by running Cruse clubs for war widows, Cruse grew to help bereaved people across society and in terms of crisis, such as after terrorists attacks. Now over 60 years old, Cruse is the leading national charity for bereaved people.

The word “Cruse” comes from a story in the Bible. During a famine?a widow shared her last meal with a hungry stranger – the prophet Elijah. Because of her kindness, from then on, her earthenware jar – or ‘cruse’ – of oil was always miraculously full.?Despite the origins of the story, today Cruse welcomes people of all faiths and those who are not religious.?

During the brand development process we researched a range of names. Two things became apparent. Firstly, that the word ‘care’ in the name gave the wrong impression, as in the end-of-life sector it is commonly associated with palliative care. Secondly, with such a strong history there was a lot of recognition and affection for the existing name amongst existing volunteers, healthcare professionals, MPs and the media. To change the name completely would have been a risk. So a decision was made to make a subtle but significant shift to Cruse Bereavement Support, which is more descriptive of what the charity provides.

Creative

Using the brand proposition and values as a guide, Red Stone created a highly inclusive and accessible visual identity.

It was important that the visual identity had a human touch, and so a logotype was created using a handwritten font aptly called Better Times. This is accompanied by a friendly serif font with rounded corners called Bitstream Cooper for headlines, and a sans serif font called Gilroy for body copy.

Accessible panels to house copy and photography, icons and underlining created by brushstrokes compliment the Better Times logotype.

Purple was retained as the primary colour. This has been accompanied by a palette of soft and vibrant colours, so the brand can flex in tone to express different emotions and from information and support to campaigning.

Photography of people brings human warmth and authenticity to the brand. To show real life stories and the charity in action. Whilst abstract images of nature and textures can be used to convey more sensitive subjects, where using a photograph of a person isn’t appropriate.

Original commissioned illustration portrays people and objects, conveying warmth, understanding and empathy. Very much in-line with the values Kind, Genuine and Inclusive.

One of my favourite parts of the visual identity is a series of abstract shapes, which express different emotions and the complexity of grief that words alone cannot. They convey the idea that we experience different emotions, thoughts and feelings through bereavement. There is no linear process, or one size fits all solution. Everybody is different and everybody is entitled to support.

Alongside this, and with assistance from the National Lottery Community Digital Fund, Cruse also launches a redeveloped website. The new site is also home to a brand-new grief self-assessment tool. This important feature is designed to help bereaved people find the most appropriate support for their individual needs, normalise grief and make bereavement support as accessible and inclusive as possible.

We hope the rebrand will open the doors to more people receiving support after the death of someone close. To help people through one of the most painful times of life. It has been an honour to play my part in refreshing a brand at such a poignant point of its history.

Steven Wibberley, Chief Executive, Cruse Bereavement Support said: “This is an important step for Cruse. As the UK’s leading bereavement charity, over the past 60 years we have supported hundreds of thousands of grieving people.?As we emerge from the pandemic, the need for bereavement support will increase in the future. We now have a brand that everyone in Cruse can feel proud of. A brand that everyone had an opportunity to feed in to. And a brand that will leave a legacy of supporting and reaching more grieving people than ever before.”

Christopher Davis,?Creative Director,?Red Stone said: “At a time of unprecedented need, we worked closely with Cruse to define the new brand, developing a visual and verbal approach that can carry complex emotions and painful?subjects, whilst being supportive and understanding. We gave Cruse the tools to engage people by expressing moments of empathy through messaging, illustration and imagery, creating a brand with strength and spirit – to?reassure people as they find their way through one of life’s most difficult times."

The new brand launches together with a new website this Autumn.

For more information visit https://red-stone.com/projects/cruse-bereavement-support