In its first major project for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), The&Partnership London has developed a new contemporary brand positioning for the 150-year-old charity.
The agency was tasked with putting RNIB back on the public’s radar, and creating a brand identity to support RNIB’s refreshed strategy which focuses on empowering people with sight loss, connecting communities and, ultimately, changing society.
As part of this, RNIB has adopted a new tag line – ‘See Differently’ – and a revitalised purpose: to be a catalyst for change. It will seek to inspire people with sight loss to transform their own personal experience, their community and, ultimately, society as a whole. RNIB’s focus will be on giving people the help, support and tools they need to realise their aspirations.
The&Partnership London partnered with RNIB’s community of partially sighted and blind people to conduct extensive research, which informed every stage of the project and made sure it was truly inclusive.
This research ensured the charity’s new visual identity is the most accessible yet; the spacing, shape, and colour contrast of the letters in RNIB’s new logo have been carefully crafted so that they are easier to distinguish for those who are partially sighted. The new visual identity covers everything from a new logo, to marketing assets, to signage in their building.
The optimistic, humorous ad campaign “See the person, not the sight loss” was developed to shine a light onto the normal, everyday lives of people living with sight loss, from running into ex-girlfriends, to a love of reality television. It aims to tackle the misconceptions held by much of the public about the lives of partially sighted and blind people.
Three short films, cast with partially sighted actors and directed by comedy directing duo Big Red Button, challenge mainstream misconceptions that people with sight loss face every day. Bright, colour popping print ads echo the sentiment and follow guidelines set in the new visual identity to make them as accessible as possible.
The ad campaign will run across print, social, video on demand and OOH, with media handled by Wavemaker.
Marc Donaldson, Head of Art at The&Partnership London, said: “Conducting research groups with RNIB’s community helped us understand the historical frustrations of the past logos and stimulated debate about the requirements for a new one. I wanted it to be very functional and efficient, making it easily adaptable and usable across a variety of applications so having that sort of immediate feedback was crucial. It became a bit of a passion project for me, and I hope it serves RNIB and their community well for years to come!”
Yan Elliott, Executive Creative Director at The&Partnership London, said: “What we wanted to do with this campaign is change people’s perceptions of what it is to live with sight loss. You still have to go through life with a sense of humour. So we’ve created a campaign to reflect that. I’d call it more ‘zoom and boom’ than ‘doom and gloom’.”
Martin Wingfield, Head of Brand at RNIB, said: “To set us out on the next 150 years, we needed to revitalise our positioning and re-connect with our community, and raise more awareness of the vital work we do with blind and partially sighted people. With the energy, care and dedication that has gone into the project, we’re proud to present our new face to the RNIB community and to the public. We hope the campaign addresses misconceptions many hold about people with sight loss, and truly puts RNIB back on the map.”
