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PARTNERING WITH FASTSIGNS LEEDS TO SUPPORT LOCAL CHARITY OWLS

We teamed up with FASTSIGNS Leeds to provide new, up-to-date signage for a local seniors’ charity. Find out more.

Helping OWLS with an effective rebrand

Our work with OWLS (Older Wiser Local Seniors) began in early 2021. OWLS are a charity local to the Leeds area. They work to reduce loneliness and social isolation for seniors living in Headingley, Burley, Hyde Park, Little Woodhouse and Kirkstall.

OWLS’ mission is to help seniors enjoy life to the fullest by helping them to stay healthy and independent. Their work is carried out through a range of different events, such as lunch clubs, social outings and classes. In our time working alongside them, we’ve found ourselves constantly inspired by the work that they do to provide support to local seniors.

As part of the marketing work that Your Engine Room did with OWLS, we helped them reach members and supporters with a new website and a multi-channel social campaign. We knew that a brand refresh and an effective new website would be key to reaching new users.

The original website was dated and difficult to navigate, especially given the older demographic of the users it was targeting. Our redesign made it clear, accessible and impactful, complete with a modern, eye-catching logo. You can find out more about how we redesigned the website with the elderly in mind in this blog.

Armed with fresh new branding and a smart website, we created graphics and social content to advertise membership. We then ran a paid campaign to promote OWLS’ content specifically to their local target audience. This was a small campaign which ran within 5 postcodes and was aimed directly at the charity’s demographic. It succeeded in reaching hundreds of new people, leading to new members and supporters.

 

Boosting OWLS’ high street presence

After completing the successful brand refresh and running the social media campaign, we realised our work with OWLS wasn’t quite done. We noticed the storefront signage at the charity’s Headingley base needed bringing up to date with the brand refresh. It still showed the old logo and didn’t effectively showcase all the incredible work the charity does.

We decided to reach out to FASTSIGNS Leeds, another Your Engine Room client who are Leeds-based signs and graphics experts. We know they’re always looking for a good cause to get involved with, so we teamed up with the director Andy and between us we paid for, produced and installed the new OWLS signage – all completely free of charge for the charity.

Talking about need to refresh the sign, FASTSIGNS director Andy said:

“Charities need to portray a professional image with their signs and graphics, so updating the OWLS sign in keeping with their new branding was important. They are more likely to attract more interest and supporters if they have modern, clean signage than something looking old and tired.

I think it is important to help local charities that don’t always have the funds available that the national charities do, so we always try and help when we can. I know this is a charity close to Ian’s heart so was happy to help out by providing the signage.”

The new signage was based on the design work we carried out in 2021 and ensured that OWLS’ physical base was immediately impactful and, importantly, consistent with their online presence. Using the bright, eye-catching brand colours and logo we designed as part of OWLS’ marketing campaign, we brought their storefront up-to-date and made sure the charity’s message was clear.

Lee, the CEO of OWLS, was delighted with the results.

“Moving our base to be on one of the busiest streets in Headingley has been a game changer for our organisation in that we are now more accessible and visible to local older people. Thanks to the fantastically clear message conveyed by FASTSIGNS’ new signage, we are now making even better use of our high street presence.”

 

If you need help boosting your brand’s website or social media content, we can help. Drop us a note at hello@yourengineroom.com. If you’d like to learn more about OWLS and the amazing work they do to support local older people, please visit their website to find out more.

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