For 150 years the British Red Cross has been helping and supporting millions of people worldwide when crisis strikes. As part of the largest humanitarian network and with over 4,000 employees themselves, their global impact is driven by the power of kindness.
A one-stop shop for print and ready-made materials for the British Red Cross
3rd August 2020
Launching BrandStencil for this worldwide organisation was key for empowering employees and volunteers anywhere in the world to find all they needed in one single destination. From print-on-demand products to warehouse merchandise, unique PO numbers and logo request options, the British Red Cross have created a central Brand Toolkit to bring their organisation together and make their employees lives easier.
Challenges
The British Red Cross Communications Team did have a brand platform in place, however it was slow, had limited flexibility within templates and didn’t integrate with any of their other external systems - DAM, print supplier etc.. It also lacked a lot of the ‘must-haves’ for a brand platform including the ability to include the British Red Cross highlight, which is a key staple in their brand identity.
The British Red Cross were looking for a fully integrated solution from stage one; something that would sit in their intranet and allow users to create artwork to print or order from their print supplier, link to their Digital Asset Management system ResourceSpace, and also generate PO numbers in their accounting system. They also wanted a more team-orientated platform, where end-users could share artwork and content between teams to encourage brand consistency.
Solutions
We created the British Red Cross a fully-integrated, customised brand artwork platform, sitting seamlessly in their intranet ready for all employees to engage with. We also created a series of small introductory videos to help with their onboarding process.
Order both artwork and ready-made products from multiple suppliers
We created an online ordering process where users can order artwork they’ve created from templates or order ready-made products all from within the platform, all in one go. Dependent on the order it is then sent to one or multiple suppliers, automatically splitting the order at the click of a button.
From within BrandStencil the Product Owners can then specify details such as paper type and weight, prices, descriptions etc. plus any ordering instructions and turnaround time. These can be changed at any time by the Product Owners and ordering can be switched on or off on each template.
The end user then receives an email notification detailing the order and these are all stored in the ‘Reporting’ area of BrandStencil, so the Product Owners can view this at any time.
The Brand Toolkit template area & ordering system
Full integration with their invoicing system
Working with their internal IT team we further integrated the ordering process from BrandStencil with their accounting system Agresso, creating a seamless process for users end-to-end. This means when users put through an order either for artwork they’ve created to get professionally printed or ready-made products a PO number is automatically generated in Agresso and returned to them in email form. This is a key step that has become digital in the ordering process, reducing any manual need from the end-user to get their unique PO number.
Choosing images from ResourceSpace
We’ve created a smooth experience for the end-user to enable them to choose images from British Red Cross’ Digital Asset Management (DAM) system ResourceSpace easily and quickly. This integration means the user can select images from ResourceSpace from right within their BrandStencil template from predefined folders, as well as conduct a keyword search.
We’ve also worked closely to ensure these images adhere to GDPR and consent rules, giving British Red Cross the ability to set expiry dates across all images. If an end-user then goes to download artwork with the expired image in they will be prompted to replace that image.
The Resource Space integration within BrandStencil
Seamless entry in just one-click
Like many organisations British Red Cross has an existing ‘brand’ area within their intranet and so, to increase employee engagement, BrandStencil has been launched within their intranet, with an additional Single Sign On process. This means employees who log into the intranet are automatically logged into BrandStencil and the platform sits seamlessly as part of their organisation's structure.
Onboarding videos hosted within the platform
As part of the onboarding process we composed four help videos for the British Red Cross. These will be hosted within their BrandStencil account so they are available to all end-users on login. This included scripting, voiceover work as well as video creation, covering general topics to more bespoke.
An example of their onboarding video
Working with Brand Stencil throughout the last 6 months has been an enjoyable experience. They have helped and supported where required and have often gone above and beyond to get the job done. I cannot fault their positive can-do attitude. We hope that the new platform will help with design capacity at the British Red Cross. It will help to take away some pressure caused by smaller jobs that can now be resolved through self-service. The enhanced system enables a smooth user journey and the ability for individuals to be more independent when creating content. With the set but flexible templates, supported by the inbuilt artwork sign off process and access to reporting, we are also confident that both staff and volunteers at the British Red Cross can make materials that are always brand aligned with professional quality.