1) RNID aims to stop hearing loss from ruining people's lives by raising awareness of hearing loss issues and providing support services. 2) Hearing loss is negatively impacting many people who are unaware of available help or too embarrassed to seek assistance. It can isolate people and deny them access to information and solutions. 3) RNID wants to change attitudes about hearing loss and help people protect their hearing. They directly fund research, provide information and advice, and work to improve services for those with hearing loss.

1. Communicating the
essence and uniqueness
of your organisation
Max du Bois
2 December 2010

2. 162,000

4. Think of a charity that stands
out?

5. Think of a charity that stands out?
Was it yours?
Unique space?
Unique approach?
Way they communicated?
Size of their communications budget?

6. Defining what’s unique about you?

7. Describe your organisation in
one sentence

8. Describe your organisation in
one sentence
Are there other charities that
could use the same description?

9. If your charity didn’t exist, how
would that effect the world?

10. After a bad day, why do you
come back?

11. Telling us very little

12. Brand; describing our organisation
Brand is a way of building and using an
organisation’s reputation in a distinctive
and relevant way to manipulate its target
audiences to act in ways that will help
achieve corporate objectives

13. Defining a brand:
What do we do?
Scope: What area of business are we in?
Status: What status do we want to achieve?
Why do we do it?
Ambition: What is our heart-felt ambition?
Ethos: What are the principles behind our actions?
How do we do it?
Style: How do we go about our business?
Response: What impression do we want to create?
Focus: What is our basis for making decisions?

14. Example: Merlin
Ethos: What are the principles
behind our actions
We work around the world to help people build
their own lasting and effective healthcare
Focus
Response: The impression
Confidential
we want to create
We do what it takes and
we stay for as long
Style: How do Ambition: What’s our
at it takes
we go about our heart felt ambition
business Investing in
healthcare that gives Scope:
Vitalising to fill with life or energy What area of
the most vulnerable
Incisive clear, to the point, effective, fast people healthy lives business are we in
Undaunted not discouraged or put off Saving lives by delivering
Hands on working directly with, extremely Medical experts emergency medical aid
practical on the and reviving health services in
frontline the toughest places
Status
Medical relief to lasting healthcare

15. Focusing on our audiences
Who are our key audiences?
No, who are our key audiences?
What can they do to help us achieve our goals?
What do they think about us?
What do we want them to think about us?
What are the barriers to this?

16. Key message grid: Audience focus
PURPOSE
A brief statement of what we are
aiming to achieve
WHAT’s going on in the world WHY do we think this is important
• Headline • Headline
• Supporting points • Supporting points
From a general perspective or that of The internal perspective, thinking about
each specific target audience. what drives us, the principles that
What is happening in the world that underpin our approach and our actions.
makes our presence and our work Beliefs, opinions.
valuable to them.
Facts, observations.
RESPONSE we want HOW will we help
• Headline • Headline
• Supporting points • Supporting points
How we want people to respond in The way in which we go about our
attitude and actions. work – our approach and style
Think rather than our specific activities.
Feel Signals of proof.
Do

17. Subject: Who and what is RNID
RNID stops hearing loss from ruining people’s lives
What is going on in the world that makes what we do important? Why do we feel that this is important?
Hearing loss is needlessly ruining people’s lives We are passionate about tackling hearing loss and
• By not valuing their hearing, people of all ages are needlessly ruining dedicated to improving the lives of people with
their lives hearing loss
• Many people are suffering because they are too embarrassed to seek • Too many people are being personally isolated through hearing loss,
help or unaware of what help is available by their own inaction, the people around them them and by society
• People are being denied basic solutions to hearing loss • We live in a hearing world where people with hearing loss are
• People with hearing loss are treated as 2nd class citizens disadvantaged and discriminated against
• This is hidden crisis across the UK: 9m DHOH, 4m are losing hearing • People aren’t accessing and getting access to the information,
and not taking action, 2m who have taken action are not getting what solutions and services that would improve their lives
they need • This appalling problem will get worse unless we act now
• Hearing loss is not a public health funding priority and there are no
Government health messages
• The problem is getting worse with an aging population, many of
whom will lose their hearing as they get older
How do we want people to respond? How are we solving these problems?
We want people to realise the value of their We support people with hearing loss and make
hearing and that they can stop hearing loss hearing matter
ruining their and other’s lives • We are the authority on hearing loss
• Hearing connects people to the world and hearing loss • We are the largest provider of information, advice, services,
isolates them support and products
• It’s a tragedy that this huge and solvable problems is being • We challenge attitudes to hearing loss at a general, personal,
ignored social and governmental level
• We want people to protect their hearing and seek help on • We directly fund medical research and increase the demand and
hearing loss the capacity in this area
• We want people to actively support RNID in curing • We work in partnership with other organisations to make hearing
deafness, removing the effects of hearing loss and making matter and improve the lives of people with hearing loss
hearing matter

18. Expressing the brand

20. Aligning your communications
DREAM
Drop
Retain
Evolve
Add
Manage

24. Rethink: Voice of severe mental illness

25. Rethink: Voice of severe mental illness

27. Thank you