Background

The Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development – part of the ISDB Group – was established in 2007 with the aim of alleviating poverty in the Islamic Development Bank’s 57 member countries. By mobilising resources and reinforcing solidarity among member countries and global partners, the organisation creates opportunities and initiatives that improve people’s lives in the least developed parts of the world.

Challenge

The ISFD recently underwent a strategic review to clearly define its operating structure and collaborative working relationship with the ISDB. Their new strategic plan seeks to address operational challenges and establish a more confident presence on the world stage. An important part of this was refreshing their brand, clearly defining their proposition and updating their look and feel, to better represent their important work and far-reaching ambitions.

Because this rebrand would signify real change, we had to do more than simply update the ISFD’s image. This new identity would galvanise a new internal way of working between ISFD and colleagues in the ISDB Group – with clearly articulated roles and responsibilities and clear strategic and operational frameworks that would help light a path to the ISFD vision. This meant a high level of brand ambassadorship was needed.

Working with an organisation that’s undergone recent restructuring comes with its challenges. For one thing, because there are many moving parts, it can be difficult to manage internal communication or gather information. Fortunately, we’ve worked closely with ISDB and their various arms for many years and have a good understanding of their inner workings and wider mission.

Solution

Considering everything the new brand would represent internally, we started by conducting an intensive phase of strategic discovery which included desk research and interviews with key team members to help us understand the organisation’s strategy, surface current perceptions, gauge opinions and gather ideas. A key step in the discovery process was conducting an in-depth eco-system analysis to identify where the ISFD brand sits in comparison to other brands within the poverty relief landscape. This would help us identify where the clear space was in the market, and craft an effective brand and communications strategy which was distinctive and differentiated.

Using the outputs and insights from our discovery process, we worked with their board members to define their strategic brand architecture and identify key steps in our creative conceptual process, which included revisiting and refining the visual identity, messaging hierarchy, vision and mission. We were also able to draw a clear internal map outlining responsibilities, processes, funds and partners.

In our creative conceptual process, we looked at how distinctive and impactful their logo was, how clear and meaningful the purpose and mission were, and how the brand communicated through its website. From here, we were able to craft fresh guidelines sympathetic to the original brand identity – taking what worked and tweaking what didn’t – so it was more an evolution than a complete transformation.

Along with clear brand guidelines that laid out the new logo and design elements, we delivered a comprehensive communications strategy that included clear objectives, KPI measurements, and an action plan for a range of campaigns including brand launch and awareness. We also reworked the vision, mission and value proposition, crafted a consistent tone of voice, and created a roadmap to help the brand convey its purpose more effectively – both internally and externally.

Our work culminated in the script and storyboard for a new brand launch video – which celebrates ISFD’s fresh face and explores how the logo, design elements, tone and comms strategy breathe new life into its mission.