Caritas Australia

Overview

Caritas Australia is the Catholic agency for international aid and development. Their work around the world empowers people to help themselves, regardless of ethnicity, political beliefs, gender or religion. They came to us because they felt that this commitment meant they’d lost touch with how to talk about the organisation’s own beliefs and principles.

Problem

Caritas Australia felt they’d lost touch with how to talk about the organisation’s own beliefs and principles and wanted to re-brand. 

Solution

Refresh the Caritas Australia brand (visual and verbal communication style) with a brand book to better reflect the charity’s core beliefs.

Results

We created a brand book with a clear, identifiable, and consistent message that allows people to recognise shared values, connect with, and be inspired by Caritas Australia.

The Challenge

Caritas Australia sought our help to reinforce their Catholic identity. They partnered with us to refresh the Caritas Australia brand (visual and verbal communication style) to better reflect the charity’s core beliefs, character and guiding principles.

Together we identified that we should tidy up the brand logo; establish a new, fresh graphic style; develop a consistent and authentic copy tone; and find a way to integrate Caritas Australia’s core Catholic Social Teaching principles, which underpin the charity’s work.

Caritas Australia would need to build its brand through a consistent look and feel. But Caritas’ strong storytelling approach would need to be accommodated (in fact actively encouraged). The brand would need to work across communications, teaching materials and, of course, fundraising including Caritas’ flagship annual campaign Project Compassion.

The Solution

We didn’t make the brand, we uncovered it through workshops, interviews and even focus groups. All of Caritas Australia’s work around the world is based on Catholic Social Teaching, so we proposed that these principles would need to be revealed.

We created a brand book with a clear, identifiable, and consistent message that allows people to recognise shared values, connect with, and be inspired by Caritas Australia.

Copy, design and photography guidelines were carefully constructed to emphasis human dignity, promote shared values, and focus on people’s strengths and courage instead of their needs – the tone of voice always respectful, the photography always optimistic and inspiring.

Wrapping up

Caritas Australia works to empower vulnerable people over the world. We wanted to empower beneficiaries in Caritas Australia’s communications too.

The Caritas Australia brand is all about creating a deep connection between supporters and beneficiaries, and it consistently communicates a clear message: it’s not “us and them”, it’s “we”. It’s a message that promotes Caritas Australia’s belief that we are all members of one human family, who should come together in times of need.