Background
The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, the charity that runs Paignton and Newquay Zoos, also supports conservation projects throughout the world. The Board of Trustees wanted to develop a new brand that reflected its role as a charitable organization which supports and gets involved in conservation projects throughout the world – not just locally. They also wanted something which was more contemporary and which reflects its core values of being engaging, inspiring and caring.
Challenge 1 – Test the new name
During internal meetings, 6 names were generated. Given the heritage of the Whitely Wildlife Conservation Trust name, it was felt very important to conduct research to determine awareness and attitudes towards the current name as well as testing potential new names.
Solution
We conducted 1,100 face to face surveys consisting of visitors and non-visitors to the Zoos. This enabled us to gather opinions from those who may have been familiar with the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust name and those who would never have heard of it. We also ensured we had a mix of ages and genders with a quota on the core audience for the zoo of families with children under the age of 12.
We also conducted an online survey with existing corporate donors and supporters to gain their views on the “preferred name”.
Outcome
The research found that names which contained the words ‘Planet’ and ‘Wild’ were seen as more inspiring and global than the current name and that the use of the word ‘Trust’ was important for people to understand that the organisation is a charity.
As a result of this, the Board of Trustees decided to rename the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust as the Wild Planet Trust.
Challenge 2 – Test the new logos
Following on from the decision to rename the Trust, the Board wanted to conduct research into the 4 very different logo styles that had been developed.
As with the naming research, a range of audiences needed to be involved in this stage.
Solution
For the qualitative stage, 3 focus groups were held to determine which logos should be taken forward into the quantitative stage:
Corporate Sponsors – invited by the Trust
Paignton Zoo visitors
Newquay Zoo visitors
This stage gave the client a deep insight and understanding into the rationale and thinking behind the opinions the respondents had about the logos.
The 2 preferred logos were then taken into a larger scale, quantitative survey.
We conducted 1,100 face-to-face surveys with both visitors and non-visitors to the Zoos to give us a wide range of opinions from those familiar with the Zoo and those who had never visited.
Additionally, we conducted an online survey which was emailed to existing stakeholders including Trustees, employees, donors, partner organisations and academic institutions.
Outcome
As a result of the research, the client was given a clear view on which name and logo supported their brand values and aspirations going forward.
The research also enabled the Board of Trustees to make clear decisions based on external, independent views from their key target audiences.