Acting for Impact

Establishing the back-story

The Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF) was established in 1882 by theatrical luminary Sir Henry Irving (and an early member was Dracula author, Bram Stoker no less). The charity hadn’t updated its image in at least 25 years, and following a member survey conducted before we were commissioned, they knew there were some brand challenges to overcome before they could deliver their new strategy, Acting for Impact. The charity has a range of well-known celebrity supporters, including Sir Ian McKellen, and their patron is His Majesty, King Charles III.

Following a competitive tender, the charity commissioned IE Brand and Digital to undertake a comprehensive research and repositioning exercise, to expand on the insight they’d captured to date and better understand the wants and needs of members, beneficiaries and other key stakeholders. IE led a listening exercise which included:

• Internal stakeholder workshops with staff and trustees
• A brand audit
• One-hour interviews with members and beneficiaries
• Student and graduate panels
• Surveys with members, trustees, beneficiaries, industry and members of the public

Having heard from thousands of people, it became clear that actors and stage managers were finding it harder than ever to thrive in the industry, and that the charity’s work offered a vital lifeline. We heard a lot of positive feedback about the ABF – including that it was caring, compassionate and generous to name but a few. But we also heard some challenges:

Awareness was low. Over half of survey respondents hadn’t heard of the ABF (or weren’t sure) and three quarters didn’t know what they did.

Accessibility was a challenge. We heard the ABF needed to become more accessible, and their website needed to be more user friendly.

Modernisation was needed. Some felt the brand was a bit old fashioned and needed to recapture the charity’s pioneering spirit. 

Their name was confusing. Younger audiences didn’t understand what ‘benevolent’ meant, and even the word ‘fund’ was deemed unhelpful in a world where people are looking to the charity for more than just financial support.

Removing the mask

Following our research, IE presented a number of brand recommendations. Perhaps the most visible of which was to change the charity’s name from the Actors’ Benevolent Fund to Actors’ Trust. A recommendation made after shortlisting a number of naming options, and blind testing them with the general public

We also introduced a simple new strapline: Supporting Actors and Stage Managers Across the UK, to represent the importance of serving actors and stage managers and including the word ‘support’ which tested well in the research.

IE also advised Actors’ Trust to:

Tell a more compelling story. It wasn’t always clear what they did, who they served, or how they can help.

Look and sound as good as you are. For a charity working in the performing arts (and blessed with celebrity ambassadors), the existing messaging and identity wasn’t as exciting as it could and should be.

Focus on the future. The charity has a rich history – which we absolutely love – but we advised the charity to make sure it wasn’t trapped in the past.

Represent everyone. This meant serving diverse beneficiaries, but it also required the charity to make it clear they represented every type of actor – enshrining this advice by creating a new phrase: ‘across sound, stage and screen’.

Simplify eligibility criteria. People weren’t always clear who could (and couldn’t) get help.

Communicate holistic wellbeing support. Mental health and wellbeing support was seen as just as valuable as financial support.

A huge thank you for your guidance, support and roll out of Actors’ Trust. Especially to your wider team, Josie is such a talent and Sophie has been incredibly helpful in supporting the launch of the new website. Please do pass on our thanks to everyone involved.

Imogen Irving, Marketing & Engagement Manager

Lights, Camera, Action

With findings and recommendations in hand, next it was time to translate insight into deliverables including key messaging and visual identity design.

The delivery phase began with a messaging workshop with a range of key stakeholders, where we sought to establish the charity’s core beliefs, define its personality and tone of voice, and to discuss the key messages stakeholders needed to hear. This was turned into a marketing messaging matrix, which records how to describe who Actors’ Trust are, what they do and why the world should care. This includes bespoke messages segmented by audience, so that Actors’ Trust can adjust their language depending on who they’re speaking to.

Next, we turned our attention to Actors’ Trust’s visual brand. The old identity revolved around a Shakespearean-inspired logo written in ink and quill but it’s monochromatic colour palette and hand-drawn illustrations lacked the warmth and personalisation Actors’ Trust is known for. That’s why we created a success criteria design brief for the new identity which – in addition to hygiene factors like accessibility – included the need to create an identity that:

• Captures the magic of sound, stage and screen
• Honours what came before, while evolving the identity to make it fit for the future
• Creates a digital-first identity that’s consistent and cohesive on and offline
• Appeals to beneficiaries, members, supporters, funders, industry, referrers, media, policymakers and students
• Projects credibility, experience and expertise

• Reflects the diversity of the communities Actors’ Trust serves
   

  IE’s talented designers created a memorable logo which emerged from the shape of the letter A. It stands out a mile and is incredibly versatile. It’s a 1:1 logo, which means it fits perfectly in squares and circles (perfect for social media) and it can appear on any background, however complex. What is the logo supposed to be? Anything audiences want or need it to be. Some will see an arrow describing movement and progression, others might see a protective arch, shielding the community beneath, or a spotlight on a stage. People might see a ribbon, to visually align with the charity sector, or tilt it on its side and there’s a megaphone embodying their advocacy work, or a clapperboard representing television and film. What matters is that it’s incredibly distinctive. A marque people will come to recognise as synonymous with helping actors and stage managers in challenging times.

The logo is complemented by a containment device based on a camera aperture which allows us to ‘frame’ stories and photographs. We also chose a vibrant colour palette, retaining the charity’s existing powder blue, and we added three new fonts. We’ve even introduced some playful scene descriptors (known as ‘wrylies’ in the industry) in ‘Courier New’, the font that’s long since been used for scripts for stage and screen. Finally, we’ve built an identity around photographs of real people, to personalise the brand, and paint a picture of the worlds that the charity’s beneficiaries inhabit.

The denouement

Signing-off messaging and visual identity were only the start of Actors’ Trust’s transformation. Next, they needed guidance and support to rollout the new brand

The very first thing we did once the identity had been finalised was to create a 50-page Brand Guidelines document to help police, protect and promote the new identity. It contains all of the information internal and external teams will need to be able to make the most of the new brand for many years to come.

Actors’ Trust also asked IE Brand to create a series of templates and assets to help them to begin the not insignificant challenge of transitioning from one brand to another. This included creating and supply Adobe Creative Cloud files, along with Canva, Figma and Microsoft templates.

Finally, work began on a brand-new WordPress website for Actors’ Trust, which you can read about here.