It’s tough being a charity at the moment. More charities mean there’s a heap of competition for the donated dollar, a drop in the level of donations seems to show that givers may be suffering from a form of ‘compassion fatigue’ that makes them immune to charitable overtures and, in many cases, there’s confusion about what the charity actually does, something evidenced by the story of the newly rebranded Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.
After conducting extensive market research into what its supporters and the general public thought about the organisation and the brand, communications and media relations manager Georgie Hackett says it was surprised and concerned by some of the results. Close to 30 percent of respondents thought the blood part of the name meant it collected and screened blood; only 12 percent of the general public knew it worked on behalf of patients with lymphoma and only 19 percent of respondents knew it supported myeloma patients; and, most worryingly, 68 percent of the respondents from the general public felt no emotional connection to the name Leukaemia & Blood Foundation.
NewSo, with the help of market research company Perceptive and .99, the name was modified to Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) and the brand was given a refresh to accommodate the name change. The new look will be rolled out in a staged process over the next 18 months.
Old“Introducing the word cancer in our name it reinforces what we do – supporting patients and their families with blood cancers and related conditions,” says Hackett. “It also raises awareness about blood cancers which often fly under the radar in New Zealand. We hope this will encourage more New Zealanders to engage with our services.”
