Jane Wentworth Associates are the number 1 brand consultancy for arts and culture. In fact, they’re the only branding agency to focus exclusively on the cultural sector. This single-minded approach has clearly paid dividends. Since their launch in 2003, JWA have worked with a stellar cast of some of the biggest names in the UK: the V&A, Rambert Dance Company, Tate, Ashmolean, the Science Museum and the Edinburgh Festival, amongst others.
Their most recent project was the rebrand of the Imperial War Museum with Hat-Trick. I think this is a great piece of work. Powerful, visually fresh and flexible. JWA developed the brand based on the idea of “the force of war”. The power and simplicity of the positioning is also reflected in the abbreviation to IWM and a naming structure that works across all five museums for the first time.
I had the pleasure of working with Imperial War Museum in 2008/9 on their very first social media campaign. They wanted to connect new audiences with a season of exhibitions on Britain in the 1940’s and to promote their retro ”Make do and mend” posters, books and archive materials. We created themed twitter characters and offered some of the IWM archive for free with creative commons licenses. This worked a treat, connecting with a young audience of vintage fashion freaks and retro aesthets.
The campaign team worked hard to understand this audience, the trends and emerging interests, the twitter feeds they followed and the blog sites they read. We started conversations, we tweeted and retweeted, we offered free stuff (creative commons), and we wrote about how IWM resources were being picked up and used by others. Success in social media often starts with two things. A genuine passion and a commitment to becoming a part of a community.
I’ve joined Jane Wentworth Associates as their digital brand specialist, working with clients on social media strategies, online brand experience, smartphone and tablet apps, and the social workforce. I’ll be sharing examples of my work here over the comiong months.
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