Our brand
You may have noticed Lasa's brand has been refreshed. We have updated our strap-line and we are proud to reveal a new and clearer visual identity. This is in response to a consultation process and focus group conversations we've had with people who use Lasa's services or work with us in some way. We learned that although recognition of the Lasa name was good, some people thought that we only worked with charities in London. Some people we spoke to weren't sure whether we worked in welfare rights or in technology (we do both). So, we realised that we needed to improve our visual identity so we could communicate more effectively with you and spread our message across the UK.
Here are the answers to some questions you might have about our refreshed brand. We look forward to hearing what you think of it.
1) Why did Lasa decide to change its visual identity and brand?
- We decided it was important to review our brand because extensive research amongst our stakeholders revealed that they thought:
- Our vision, values and beliefs seemed unclear
- They thought that we only operated in London. Not many of them knew that we work across the UK and have partners in Europe and the US.
- In this time of growing need for support in the third and public sector, more organisations needed to know that we can help them. Many of you don't know that we work with everyone from large national charities to small community charities to central government bodies.
2) Who worked on the branding project? Did you use an outside consultancy?
Lasa did a lot of the brand work in-house, especially the research and focus groups. Lasa used the strategic and creative advice of the specialist agency Beautiful World, which works with the not-for-profit sector.
3) How has the new brand been received?
It can take several years to measure the true results of a rebrand, but we have already had some very positive feedback from our stakeholders.
4) What challenges did you encounter?
The main challenge was delivering the project on an extremely tight budget and by undertaking most of the work in-house. However, this was a great opportunity to think creatively about how to deliver the project on limited resources and how to minimise waste.
5) How can charities and public sector workers benefit from using Lasa's services?
Lasa helps large and small charities with both welfare rights advice and training and technology needs, An example might be Citizen's Advice or The Fostering Network. Lasa would provide back-up support to a case worker at the public-facing charity, who may be a volunteer, to ensure that they are giving the right, accurate advice.
6) What are the main differences between the old and new brands?
The new brand will give our stakeholder a much clearer sense of who we are and how we can help them. We hope it will make more charities and public sector organisations aware of the support we offer, and prompt them to contact us to find out more.
7) Why did Lasa decide to make this change now (ie this particular time?)
As competition in the third sector increases as funding cuts bite, it was particularly important that we invested in a new brand now, rather than waiting.
8) How has Lasa's identity evolved over the last 26 years?
Lasa's reach has grown over the last 26 years and now extends across the UK. In fact Lasa has international connections too in Europe, America and Australia.