Redhouse | NEST - A campaign to challenge perceptions - Case study

Telling the right story

We were tasked with enhancing National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)’s brand reputation. When the UK Government set it up, not everyone realised how sophisticated and high-performance the NEST scheme was. Since they run such an accessible scheme that could help millions, it was important they were understood and the scheme was represented the right way.

The pension fund of choice

To cut the confusion, we created a content strategy that would tell their story clearly and defuse any confusion or misconceptions that people already had. Through a range of mediums – articles, tweets, animations and infographics – we highlighted everything NEST does uniquely; from their ground-breaking investment methods to encouraging employees to manage their own pension pots.

Everything’s aligned to outshine competitors, appeal to three specific target markets and challenge the perception that as the default option, NEST’s fund must be basic.

Recent thoughts

Brand belongs at the top table

Your brand: it’s more than what you look like. It’s what you do. That’s why brand needs a seat in the C-suite.

Case in point: this week The John Lewis Partnership launched a new visual identity with a powerful message – then immediately undermined that message with its actions.

The company is owned by its employees, and that’s the point of difference that comes across loud and proud in its new logos, packaging, livery and TV ads. John Lewis and Waitrose have both added “& Partners” to their names and logomarks, and the new TV ad ends with the line, “If you’re part of it, you put your heart into it”.

But 270 of those partners won’t be part of it for much longer. Back office staff in 50 shops recently found out they’re losing their jobs. The company’s actions don’t match its message.

The message – the logomark, the feelgood ad – has been crafted with careful attention to brand. It doesn’t look like hiring/firing decisions are getting the same attention.

The result: the value the company can get out of its new brand just dropped.

Your brand is much more than a set of rules about colours, type and taglines. It’s everything that makes your organisation distinct. That makes it a powerful tool you can use to make meaningful connections and improvements for your business.

As with many powerful tools, you’ll get the best results when your brand is wielded by an expert. But in our experience, companies don’t always make the most of their in-house brand experts, who work as design police most of the time and only get to flex their muscles when it’s time for a rebrand. Brand people are worth so much more: companies who base their behaviour on their brand, not just their look, grow twice as fast as others.

We can only speculate about The John Lewis Partnership’s organisational structure, of course. But if there’d been a brand person in the room when the company decided to fire 270 partners, we imagine they’d at least have questioned the timing.

And if that person had director-level power, maybe they could have challenged the decision itself – in the same way brand managers challenge stretched logos or incorrect typefaces. “This goes against our brand. We’re a partnership – that’s how our customers know we’re John Lewis and not some other retailer. Are we sure this is the right decision for us?” There will always be times when the bottom line has the final say – but brand should always factor into the decision.

We want to help you make sure your messages and actions are aligned under a coherent brand. We’ve assessed and aligned mismatches between identity and behaviour for clients like the PSR, and the Government Office for Science.

As with many powerful tools, you’ll get the best results when your brand is wielded by an expert.

Are you thinking like a challenger brand?

It’s a great time to be a challenger brand.

First identified as a phenomenon by agency Eat Big Fish in the late 90s, challenger brands have since fallen a bit out of fashion. The headline-grabbing thing to be right now, supposedly, is a disruptor (more on them later).

But headlines don’t always mean business success. And while disruptors are getting all the attention, conditions are right for challenger brands to thrive.

So how can you tell if this means you?

You’re a major player in your sector – but you’re not the market leader.
You can’t be a challenger if there’s nothing bigger than you to challenge, after all. (Though market-leading brands can still be run with a challenger attitude, by leaning into the next two points.)

You know your strengths and play to them – even if that means not pleasing everyone.
Getting the right people to love you might make others hate you. Challenger brands embrace that specialism – and that recognition. Better to be hated by some than ignored by all.

You succeed by outsmarting the competition – not by outspending them.
You’re not big enough to throw your weight around, so instead you win by spotting the opportunities others miss. Better strategies for existing platforms. New ways to engage existing audience groups. Unoccupied space in the competitor landscape.

Here’s where challenger brands differ from disruptors. Challenger brands learn the rules of their game inside out to find surprising new ways to get ahead. Disruptors aims to change the rules, or even change the game completely.

That’s one reason it’s better to be a challenger brand than a disruptor right now. The potential rewards make disruption a tempting bandwagon, but a sector can only take so many disruptors trying to change the rules. Attempts at disruption either succeed, or leave the disruptor without a working business model.

But a sector can see multiple challengers appear and still stay stable. The market leader might not be happy about all that competition, but the market can usually accommodate the new players.

Finally, let’s face it: the economy isn’t at its best right now. And while that’s not great news overall, it does give the advantage to brands who are used to spending smart, rather than spending big. If you’re a challenger brand, you’re already used to doing more with less.

If you’re a challenger brand – or you aspire to a challenger mindset – we want to help you make the most of this moment in time. We’ve done it for NEST, a challenger in the pensions sector, and the PSR, a rare industry regulator that’s also a challenger brand.

Better to be hated by some than ignored by all.