CorpComms Magazine

The newly named Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust began its life as the Game Conservancy Trust in 1931, when Major HG Eley established a game research centre at Knebworth in Hertfordshire in response to an outbreak of disease among the grey partridge population.

Today the charity employs 34 scientists and runs more than 60 research projects. It advises farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats and acts as a lobby group on agricultural and conservation issues. But neither the breadth nor the sophistication of the trust's work was being communicated by its old corporate brand.

'In the last few years our membership base decreased,' explains Morag Walker, head of media. 'As an organisation you have to look at how you are perceived by the public, and perhaps we looked a bit old-fashioned.'

To understand better the perceptions surrounding the trust, extensive market research was carried out by creative agency Proximity London. This included a 'semiotic' study into the existing brand, to determine what signals it had been communicating to the public.

'The company was perceived as stand-offish and inaccessible,' explains Elly Woolston, deputy chairman of Proximity. 'The capital letters in the logo implied a certain masculinity and male dominance, while the way the partridge was drawn suggested seriousness and elitism.'

To achieve its aim of branching out to a wider audience, the trust had to challenge these perceptions. 'There is a huge potential audience of countryside-lovers who don't necessarily take part in field sports,' says Chris Washington-Sare, the charity's head of marketing. 'On top of this, good wholesome food caught locally and dispatched humanely is becoming more popular. There are big social changes taking place and we are going to capitalise on that.'

The name of the charity was modernised, with 'conservancy' replaced by the much more familiar term 'conservation', while 'wildlife' was added to inform the public that the trust's research covers far more than just game species. Market research firm Hicklin Slade - from its appropriately sited offices in Swallow Place - redrew the partridge in a more genial pose.

The trust was careful not to venture too far from its former brand for fear of alienating existing supporters. 'We are not changing anything we do; this is really about communicating more effectively,' points out Washington-Sare. 'We have been at pains to communicate that to our members.'

The charity certainly hasn't faltered in its support of the grey partridge. A countrywide network has been set up to protect the endangered bird, and its numbers are now increasing significantly.

This is good news for food lovers as well as nature lovers: apparently grey partridge is a real delicacy.

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