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What’s in a name?It’s been a busy season of activity on the NADFAS rebranding project. Jo Marsh, Lead Consultant at Jane Wentworth Associates, outlines the direction of travel – and members’ thoughts about the nameYou can’t think about the future direction of an organisation’s brand without understanding and analysing where it is today. Our fi rst step in this project was to conduct an in-depth phase of research, which included interviews – both internal and external, members’ focus groups, online surveys with members and NADFAS House staff. We also conducted a thorough analysis of NADFAS’ current communications, including many of the Societies’ individual visual identities, and looked at the brand in terms of the competition. All of these conversations, which included the opinions of over 450 people, led to some clear fi ndings which we presented to our brand committee, which includes National Chairman June Robinson and a number of NADFAS members. What emerged during the research was a very clear picture of contrasts – some incredible strengths, including the extensive network of strong, self-organising communities that make up NADFAS – but also some areas for improvement. Despite strong individual Societies and the very signifi cant voluntary work supporting the arts, NADFAS doesn’t have enough visibility. For many externally, NADFAS is seen as a ‘secret society’. You might ask what’s wrong with that if the existing members are happy? But many of you also asked for more profi le and visibility for NADFAS. You told us that you want to be part of a more inclusive and infl uential organisation that is reaching out to more members in more places.Knowledgeable and welcomingAs part of our process we also facilitated a series of creative brand workshops with Society committee members, grant recipients, Lecturers, Trustees and NADFAS House staff. Using a series of creative exercises we explored what makes NADFAS special and distinctive. One of the key ideas to emerge during the workshops is your curiosity for knowledge – as one member said, “we are a collection of curious, lively minds” – and the expertise and quality of the lectures is a crucial part of what NADFAS offers. The idea of a welcoming organisation was also discussed, as many people in the workshops talked about the enjoyable and welcoming nature of their local Society and the emphasis on fun and friendship. I know there is concern among some members that we are here to dumb things down, but branding is about building on the inherent strengths of an organisation and the expert and enjoyable nature of NADFAS will continue to be a fundamental part of the brand going forwards.A desire to change the name Throughout the process we have asked how people feel about the name ‘NADFAS’. As June Robinson announced at this year’s AGM, we need to take a long, hard look at it. It’s longwinded to explain, a barrier to extending and diversifying the membership, and it doesn’t represent the international scope or the current offer, which reaches far beyond the decorative and fi ne arts. The majority of members in the survey thought the name should change, so we are certainly considering renaming and have conducted a naming discussion with our brand committee in order to explore appropriate and relevant Above: Creative exercises to distill the essence of NADFAS involved members and staff8 NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2016 www.nadfas.org.ukREBRANDING