Building up the bastion of business

Even though GFirst LEP is regarded as one of the leading LEPs in the country – delivering multi-million–pound infrastructure projects to futureproof Gloucestershire – the vast majority of people in the region didn’t understand what the organisation did and its impact on where they live and work.

We started our programme with a communications audit, understanding what was in place, how it was used and what the organisation was saying and to who. It was immediately clear that the style of communications didn’t match the dynamism of the team and its CEO. We also saw that as their projects often took years to come into fruition, coupled with a tendency to overcommunicate dense datasets and policy in their collateral, it was hard to engage the end user.

We challenged GFirst LEP to tell their story, rather than communicating just to justify their existence. We proposed that they needed a ‘less is more’ approach to help stakeholders focus on one element at a time, and that we could achieve this with clever but simple messaging and striking design.

Rather than hide behind lots of jargon like other business organisations, we developed a clear and confident tone of voice for GFirst LEP and brought this to life through a series of new adverts, reaffirming GFirst LEP’s position as a driving force behind economic change in the county. We ditched the overcrowded collateral of the past and created geometrically inspired designs that drew the reader in thanks to their simplicity. As part of this, we created the strapline ‘Gloucestershire: Future-Proofed’ – a simple statement that explains exactly what GFirst LEP’s mission statement is.

The adverts started to gain traction, but they directed the reader from what was a clear and simple message to a point of confusion – the GFirst LEP website. Previously, staff had resorted to Google to locate the information they required on the website, and with a bold new outlook, it was the perfect time to introduce a new digital infrastructure. We distilled what GFirst LEP does into an easy to navigate platform that would not only comply with government guidelines around transparency, but would make it simple for stakeholders and employees to find what they needed.

Throughout the website, we demonstrated GFirst LEP’s dynamic personality through interactive templates with video functionality and jargon-free copy, and extended the brand with bold iconography.

Rejuvenating key documents

We’ve continued to work with GFirst LEP on important documents that outline their ambitious vision for the county, taking our new brand positioning and developing it to create stunning booklets that showcase vital strategies clearly and intelligently.

In each report, we stripped the design and the content right back to present the LEP as more confident and professional, while allowing important points to stand out and bringing typically dry subjects to life with bright, bold ways of displaying data. Each document has been well received by key stakeholders.

A digital future

As well as working on the main GFirst LEP website, we have since been brought in to consult on the digital presence for its various initiatives, including its inward investment programme, its education team and its employment division.

In each case, we’ve developed unique websites that build on the GFirst LEP brand while establishing each division as its own distinct proposition and catering to completely different audiences. Nevertheless, our mission to make GFirst LEP accessible and relevant remains at the heart of each one and is referenced in the design of each site – information is displayed clearly and is simple to find in each case, and we’ve ensured the main content for each site is easy to read while remaining informative.

From each site’s initial launch and beyond, we continue to provide consultancy and strategy to help the websites reach the right people, utilising a variety of digital channels including social media and Google Ads.