Establishing brand trust to support organisational growth
What do you do when you’ve been delivering best-practice, high-quality services to the community for over 40 years, but your brand is creating uncertainty for potential employees and clients from the outside in?
Prelude Australia, originally Hunter Prelude, is a not-for-profit organisation providing best-practice, early childhood & therapy support for kids from birth to twelve. As they approached their 40th year in service, they found themselves in a position for growth but were held back as they struggled to fill vital roles in the organisation. Through feedback from staff and industry, they recognised their lack of brand strategy and current communications were creating a barrier to engagement and an inaccurate perception of the organisation. A brand diagnostic enabled them to clearly understand the gaps and opportunities in their brand, and where to invest.
As they expanded their services beyond the Hunter to provide families Australia-wide with access to high-quality, specialised support, we worked with them to build a brand that was strategically aligned to build trust and support the positive reputation of the organisation within the industry, and over time engage the right employees to take the organisation further.
Brand awareness and trust play a big role in realising strategic goals, many organisations don’t realise the effect their brand can have on areas like recruitment, service delivery and operations. A considered approach needs to be taken to ensure a brand can work to build the right perceptions and serve the organisation to achieve both immediate needs and future aspirations.
Uncovering opportunities and unrealised value
An in-depth analysis of the current brand identified the untapped value and opportunity in framing and communicating their transdisciplinary service approach, as well as a need to elevate the brand to position the organisation correctly as a leading, best-practice, national organisation. Hunter Prelude became Prelude Australia, and disconnected communications and assets became an aligned and confident identity that embodies the strengths, differences, and maturity of the organisation.
Early on it was essential to understand what was important to the right people. Getting to know the right-fit families and employees started at the core of the organisation with clarity work to uncover shared-values and psychographic profiles of ideal audiences.
Common themes emerged throughout this process – it became evident that the genuine balance of friendship and leadership was a key quality and valued difference of the Prelude Australia culture. Families described this as things like:
- Loving their child where they’re at, but also expecting more.
- Knowing when they need support, and when to suggest autonomy.
- Remembering their child’s favourite book, and also having a measured plan.
- Leading them, without pushing them
These and many more insights were translated into a brand strategy built on foundations of rapport leadership, and a genuine purpose to support a positive future for all children – a brand culture we simplified together into the concept of the Humble Coach.
The Prelude Australia difference is about real people, in real places, doing real things. It’s enabling everyday opportunities while coaching families in evidence-based practice to realise lifelong possibilities.
We worked together to articulate and showcase the unique value of their best-practice, transdisciplinary approach, which empowers families and employees through the creation of Real Principles and the Connected Beginnings model—holistic frameworks that integrate collaboration, cultural sensitivity, and tailored support to foster meaningful outcomes for communities and children.
Strategically aligning an identity
Drawing on the strategy, Prelude’s identity and messaging needed to communicate their values and reflect key attributes of the organisation: relationship-focussed, evidence-based, adaptability, and lifelong impact. Strategically it needed to better reflect a well-established, national organisation in line with their growth and expansion.
In an industry where bright, plastic, and playful is the common visual theme, Prelude Australia’s natural, genuine presence is a powerful differentiator, reflecting their core strengths and real, best-practice approach. Imagery needed to focus on authenticity and connection, in real places, reflecting the unique balance of rapport and leadership the Prelude Australia team bring to their work.
Building capacity and understanding from the inside-out
The employee (internal) experience and customer (external) experience are equally important when it comes to perception and growth. In addition to launching a new website and updating external communications in the new brand identity, internal engagement tools were created like a culture guide to ensure the team have clarity around Prelude Australia’s brand and culture, and how together they create better futures for all children.
Team members were engaged in conversations and interviews from the beginning of the strategic process to ensure their voices were heard and their insight and ideas were reflected in the vision and direction. The Board of Directors participated in workshops and families were consulted to gather insight and understanding, so everyone was unified on the journey.
We’re continuing to work with the leadership team at Prelude Australia to embed the strategy internally and externally.
