The RSPCA rebrand from an internal comms perspective

“Rebrand” is one of the few words, when muttered in the internal comms community, that can cause such a sense of excitement - but at the same time - make you take a long hard look in your professional mirror and question - “can I do this?”.

For my internal comms friends out there who may be about to embark on a rebrand journey, here are some of my rumblings, lessons learnt, and reminders that may help you on your way. 

1. Involve yourself from day one

It was March 2022, during my second week at the RSPCA, when I first met Olivia Reid - then programme manager, now our assistant director of marketing and communications - and Louise Stevens, head of brand marketing and content. We discussed that there might be an opportunity to review the RSPCA brand and that they were going to need internal comms support. From that moment the internal comms team has been a key voice in the room. 

The RSPCA has more than 1,500 employees, over 6,000 volunteers and a network of 140 branches across England and Wales. You can’t possibly take your people on a journey that you aren’t on yourself, so pull yourself up a seat at that table and get comfy.

2. Build your brand on solid foundations

As you might understand, rebrands take time. The RSPCA is 200 years old this year, and lots can change in two centuries. And the rebrand of the RSPCA was more than a logo change and new colour palette. We're also facing some of the biggest challenges in our history, from the effects of climate change, intensive farming, the cost of living crisis, and hugely-increased animal abandonment rates following a pet ownership boom during the pandemic.

We needed our new brand to stay true to who we are, celebrate our history, but also help everyone understand that we’re all responsible for creating a better world for every animal. We needed to create an animal welfare movement.

This wasn't going to happen overnight, and we needed to start with the basics. First things first - we helped our teams understand that a brand is more than a logo, and ran multiple sessions on what the strategic building blocks of a successful brand are. Our passionate brand programme team put in the legwork to get our people onboard from day one - helping them understand not only what we needed to change, but the incredible benefits of doing so, and the risks of inaction.

3. Listen, listen, listen

Nothing destroys the trust of your people more than selective listening. Put in place ample (and I mean ample!) opportunities for your people to share their thoughts. The good, the bad and the ugly. This is their brand too!

We’ve been incredibly lucky to have a team of over 100 brand champions that touch every single part of our organisation. From our frontline officers and branch network, to our leadership teams and support functions. They’ve been our sounding board, fearless to question the direction of travel, and have provided unique points of view from the get go. 

From the very beginning, we’ve been led by data and insights, and this includes the valuable insights gained by listening to our people. Collecting, and acting on, the thoughts, feelings and experiences of our colleagues helped bring them on this journey with us, and gave us a great baseline to compare against public audience insights.

4. Things won’t always go perfectly - be kind to yourself 

I’ve been lucky enough to support a number of rebrands in my career, but until you’ve been through one yourself, it’s hard to explain the sheer number of moving parts and the requirement to prioritise, re-prioritise, then re-prioritise again! If you’re lucky, it’s like a finely tuned grandfather clock - even with all the cogs turning as they should, you still might end up a little cuckoo!

Internal comms professionals are natural perfectionists and people pleasers - it’s why we landed in this career in the first place. A rebrand is no easy task and it’s very easy to get caught up in the ‘even better ifs’. Yes it’s important to recognise these, but take the time to reflect on the things that went well - find those high five moments. 

For example - we were thrilled to put on a live event launching our new brand to our people a few months before our public launch. It was one of, if not the most, attended event we had ever seen. It was clear that the appetite to learn more was strong. But, this wasn't our first shot at it! Just a week before, we attempted the same event, but with such high numbers the tech just couldn't keep up. I mean, there are worse problems than having such an inquisitive workforce that you break the internet - but that said, it wasn't ideal!

With our internal events manager at the helm, we brushed ourselves off, and came up with a new and interactive solution that meant everyone got to have the exclusive first look - safe to say our second attempt went like clockwork.

5. In the words of Mufasa from the Lion King - remember who you are

Internal comms are here to ensure our people feel informed, engaged, listened to, excited, on side, and comfortable in raising concerns and challenges (anything I've missed here?). Sure, it’s all hands on deck at times, but keep that core purpose in your sight at all times. It’s so easy to get swept up, and when that happens, it’s your people who’ll feel the impact. 

6. Be realistically resourced

Rebrands take time, effort and a considerable amount of resources from across any organisation - including the internal comms team. If you don't give it the time and attention it needs, you're off to a non-starter! Before approaching a rebrand, either look to be adequately resourced, or be prepared to re-prioritise (or stop completely) other areas of work.

We’re incredibly lucky at the RSPCA to have a fully stocked internal comms team - this is rare with many organisations having a very small (and very tired) IC team wearing a menagerie of hats.

Being appropriately resourced not only makes a project of this scale ‘easier’ but more enjoyable and rewarding. There’s only so many times you can pat yourself on the back! Trust that your team is there to support you, speak to them when you’re worried, and carve out time to celebrate the wins. Thank you to Kate Bromley, Abbi Moore, Pam Whiteside, Megan Mullin, Philippa Rose and Natasha Lawrence - this has been such an incredible team effort! 

7. Trust (and learn from) the experts

I can’t state this strongly enough - the people working on this rebrand, and our wider programmes of transformational change, are some of the most skilled and ambitious people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. From our project managers and leadership team, to our digital extraordinaires and graphic designers - every one of them as passionate and dedicated as the last. Take the time to learn from those around you - it could be likened to a fast track intensive university course, but without the debt…

But trust your own expertise. You’re not sitting at that table by chance - you’re involved because your opinion is valued. Just as you can learn from others, they can learn from you - help them understand your role and get comfortable in providing challenge. Trust your gut - if something feels wrong, it usually is!

8. Brand launch is not mission complete

For an internal comms team, some of the most important work starts from the launch of your brand, and the subsequent culture it helps to create.

It's vital to work closely with your brand programme and people and culture teams to help your people bring your brand to life and continue the narrative on why this change was so important. 

At the RSPCA, we’re continuing to run brand workshops to support this embedding process, as well as tone of voice training, to help our people walk the walk and talk the talk.

We’ve also put in place a Brand Clinic. Any colleagues using our new brand can share their project or draft designs with our clinic team, who then provide expert guidance on a range of topics including writing style and tone of voice, logo use and imagery.

And don’t gatekeep your brand assets! It’s natural that your people will want to start using your new brand in their day to day activities, and you should empower them to do so! But make sure you provide the correct guidance. Any rebrand worth its salt will be accompanied by a comprehensive set of brand guidelines. These should explain how to use every aspect of your brand - from your logo and colour palette, to type faces and iconography. Make these guidelines easily accessible to all. 

A final thought 

These past few months could be likened to that final battle charge in Avengers Endgame. (If you don’t know it, Google it for reference!) The display of comradery - everyone pulling together, bringing their specialist skills, talent and passion to the frontline as one united force. And in this scenario, it’s only right to name our incredible programme manager, Takami Moodie, in the role of Captain America leading the charge - Avengers Assemble! 

Jordan Greenwood-Hatton is the internal communications manager at the RSPCA. Learn more about the RSPCA’s rebrand and watch these videos on the brand's transformation and the charity's powerful For Every Kind campaign.