FEATURE
Charity champion - Viral Effect CEO James Pennington .
GOING
WORDS : PHILIP TALLENTIRE
Innovative Teesside digital marketing firm Viral Effect has teamed up with an iconic North-East charity to mastermind a landmark rebrand . Earlier this year , Butterwick Hospice decided the time was right to introduce new imagery and branding and Viral Effect generously agreed to help .
In the coming weeks , the fruits of that labour will be evident on the region ’ s high streets as ever-popular Butterwick Hospice shops install newly-designed signage incorporating a brand new logo . But the input from Viral Effect goes way beyond eye-catching signs , as will become apparent once the rebrand is complete .
Viral Effect is a thriving business based in Flok , an ultra-modern co-working space on Albert Road , Middlesbrough , and clients include global brands Domino ’ s and Costa . However , CEO James Pennington ( pictured above ) is just as proud of the fact that the firm he founded is playing such a key creative role in the rebranding of a much-loved North-East charity .
He says : “ Doing charity work is something that is very important to us . This project in particular is one of the most important pieces of work we have done .
“ It ’ s something that means a huge amount to a lot of people within the area and it ’ s going to be there for years to come . We can do something with Butterwick that impacts so many people on a different level .”
VIRAL
The link with Butterwick extends beyond the initial rebrand because Viral Effect is now a corporate partner of the charity and will offer marketing help and advice on an ongoing basis .
For example , when Butterwick stages an event , Viral Effect experts will be on hand to conduct interviews and make videos for use in subsequent marketing campaigns . “ We ’ ve been here 12 years , they ’ ve been here for almost 40 years and with every partnership , we aim to maintain a long-term relationship ,” says James .
Key to the rebrand have been Viral Effect ’ s head of design Martin Doyle and senior designer Lee Johnson . The duo – described by James as the “ magic guys ” – have worked closely with Butterwick to ensure the vision for the rebrand becomes reality .
“ Butterwick and its branding is already well established in the area so we didn ’ t want to go too far away from that ,” explains Martin . “ We decided to have a refresh but still retain that feel that the customer base recognises . We looked at how we could navigate through what they ’ ve done in the past and develop on top of that .
“ They wanted to feel welcoming – they wanted people who entered the premises to feel like they were being hugged because it ’ s a hospice at the end of the day . They wanted to portray a caring feel and a community feel .”
Beloved charity rebrand benefits from expert Teesbased advisors
Lee adds : “ From the start of the project they were really excited and we were really excited to take on the project . It ’ s for a really good cause and it means a lot to so many people .”
But don ’ t just take Viral Effect ’ s word for it on the partnership ’ s success . Butterwick ’ s head of marketing Hannah Stirling says the partnership has worked like a dream so far .
“ Working on our recent rebrand project with Viral Effect has been a fantastic experience ,” she says . “ Having been through similar processes in the past with different agencies and for different organisations , I feel that the experience we had with Viral Effect was by far the easiest and smoothest project I have been part of .
“ We worked closely with Martin and Lee , who delivered excellent communications throughout and were really interested in gaining in-depth knowledge of the charity so that they could best design our new branding , making sure it accurately represented our core values , legacy , future goals and mission .
“ We ’ re really grateful for the work Viral Effect has completed for us and thoroughly enjoyed the project .”
Visit viraleffect . com for information about the Teesside digital marketing experts .
184 | Tees Business