Stroke Association overhauls brand
Stroke Association is overhauling its branding and fundraising in an effort to raise awareness of the charity and ‘stand shoulder to shoulder’ with other health charities such as Cancer Research and British Heart Foundation.
The charity is introducing a new brand identity, campaign slogan and refreshed event strategy from May.
The Stroke Association is also launching its first annual awareness month dubbed ‘Action for Stroke’ in May in a bid to put the spotlight on stroke issues through campaign and lobbying.
To support Action on Stroke month, the charity will launch a campaign called Life After Stroke to raise awareness of the fact that recovery from stroke is possible.
It also hopes to launch a series of local community events including a Thames bike ride and has also appointed Nic Clarke, former Cancer Research UK Race for Life marketer, to overhaul its Step Out sponsored walk and build it into a ‘flagship’ annual event.
Rachel Bhageerutty, head of brand and internal communications, says that a stroke has the same impact on people’s lives as cancer and heart disease, but the Association’s income and awareness is much lower.
The Stroke Association’s annual income currently sits at around £30m, while British Heart foundation and Cancer Research UK reported income of £233.4m and £482.5m respectively for the year ended March 2011.
Prompted awareness of The Stroke Association currently sits at 36%, according to Bhageerutty.
“We didn’t really look after our brand so it didn’t work very hard for us. [With the new identity] we’ll have higher visibility and increased awareness. We want to be recognised as a major charity dealing with a major issue in the UK and stand shoulder to shoulder with other major health charities such as British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK.”
