The Swedish Cancer Society – One home for better brand understanding
A brand home that brings clarity and inspiration, easy to access for everyone. That is how The Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) got a greater understanding for who they are, within all parts of the organization. Lisa Olofson, Design and Brand Experience Manager at The Swedish Cancer Society, lets us in on how they work to build a strong brand, how deBroome helped overcome challenges, brand metrics, and more.
Tell us about Cancerfonden and your role.
The Swedish Cancer Society wants to make certain that fewer people are affected, and more people survive cancer. We work to achieve this by financing the best cancer research in Sweden, spreading knowledge about cancer, and influencing decision-makers in important questions. We are an independent, non-profit organization, without any state funding. Our work is thereby solely dependent on corporate and private donations.
My name is Lisa Olofson and I work in our marketing department, responsible for our design and brand experience. My role is to guide our organization in finding our visual expression.
How are you working to build a strong brand?
We are working for different causes, which means our target group is broad. For this reason, it is essential to have a brand platform for everyone to lean on – including both external partners and employees. More so, the platform itself needs to be inspiring, easy to access for everyone, and clearly display our vision, position, promise and brand identity.
From your perspective, what are three important factors encouraging the workforce to become brand ambassadors?
My most important factors would be …
- Communication, which is key in getting everyone to understand the brand.
- Inspiration, that plays an important part in how well the brand is embraced.
- A great brand platform, available to lean on for clarity and guidance.
Do you have examples of any challenges you have faced, and then overcame?
Availability and brand understanding were two challenges before we decided to create a home that holds the work we do, the work that builds our brand. deBroome's Brand Portal has made it easier to communicate how we are working for a strong brand. It creates an alignment and an understanding for who we are, independently of your work role.
“deBroome's Brand Portal has made it easier to communicate how we are working for a strong brand. It creates an alignment and an understanding for who we are, independently of your work role.“
As inspiration for others wondering how to measure brand engagement – what metrics do you use?
Externally, our brand is measured via brand tracking. Important metrics are donations, reputation, and our so-called position metrics. These are meant to ensure that we are moving in the right direction, towards our desired position. Internally, we emphasize our brand values in the cultural vision, which is measured in our employee survey. Internal and external measurements are done ongoing throughout the year.
Looking towards the future, what is the next step for your brand?
As we are curious to know what our brand sounds like, we have started to look at how we can develop a sound identity for The Swedish Cancer Society.
The warmest thank you to Lisa for her time and for sharing her experiences!
