Scope has progressed significantly from its former brand, when it was known as the Spastics’ Society.

But to celebrate its 60th birthday the charity decided a new identity was in order. Jade Gamlin reports

Disability charity, Scope, is no stranger to rebranding. In 1994 the formerly named The Spastics’ Society launched with a new name, theme, and media presence but now, in its 60th year, the charity has a broader target.

The decision to rebrand came three years ago,when Scope felt that it did not have much traction in the public eye, and that its brand message was unclear to its audience. Alexandra O’Dwyer, director of communications at Scope, says its brand communication was quite aggressive and didn’t portray what the charity stood for. “As a disability charity we were expected to be human, but we actually came across as quite hard. The first job we did was to identify what our six beliefs were, and they became the core of our thinking,” she recalls. “It unlocked our ability to understand what we were like.” Another vital factor is that attitudes towards disabled people are worsening.

A survey conducted by ComRes revealed that 66% of disabled people experienced aggression, hostility or name calling in November 2011, compared to 37% in May of the same year. And the current alterations to welfare reforms are a pressing issue for charities throughout the UK, which have lead to a decrease in support for many disabled people in receipt of the funding. Scope offers practical, everyday support and services for disabled adults and children, and delivers campaigns, with a primary focus on those with complex support needs. With a broad audience to engage, and a low budget to achieve it with, the charity was presented with a challenge: everything from the messaging to the accessibility had to be entirely appropriate. Scope’s in-house communications team collaborated with creative agency, Arthur London, and the digital agency Catch, to bring about the rebrand. Arthur was commissioned to conduct a brand review, and the 18 month project began by working through an intense process with the charity, to uncover its core beliefs. O’Dwyer found Nick Spindler and his team at Arthur unique in their talent for understanding the nature of disability, which helped bring the combined team to a point of clarity.

O’Dwyer says, “We had been looking around for a strapline, but it is almost impossible to peg us down. We don’t prescribe what could be possible, we work with individuals.” Around 80 straplines were tested, but Scope found each result either worked with the public but was palpably against its beliefs, or was full of principle but meant nothing to the general public. However by including the word “to...” in its logo, the limitless nature of the charity’s beliefs as a social change organisation was aptly represented. “We all landed on the most nspiring territory and managed to get through,” O’Dwyer says. “There was a little bit of magic in the process.”

Generating belief in the possible is the basis of the new brand essence, an idea that spans everything Scope embodies. The change to Scope to... in the logo could be linked to any issue affecting an individual or to a wider audience. All possibilities were supported by the new label, from something small like one person being able to cook a meal, to the larger entities like political influencing and creating palpable solutions.

With the wording for the logo decided on, the new visual identity needed to convey Scope’s commitment to possibility, potential and opportunity. Spindler recognised that the heart of the brand, giving disabled people the same opportunities that all people have, had to be brought to life through the brand image. Scope’s communications team, together with Arthur and Catch, decided on the idea of giving the identity over to disabled people and letting their voice speak for the brand. It was decided that a small group of disabled people, together with their friends and family, would submit images online of how they pictured their ideal future. “We wanted to enable other people’s ideas - a burst of possibility in individual icons. It took on a life of its own,” O’Dwyer says. “The idea of being a brand which tells stories and little vignettes of people’s lives was such an inclusive way of engaging audiences.”

After five months of introducing the idea to the rest of Scope, employees began to warm to the concept and to see how they could use it to the organisation’s advantage. Spindler says “We decided that the best way to engage society was to start a debate and win the hearts and minds of non-disabled people.”

The Scope gallery was initially launched in a closed beta, where people closest to the brand could offer their individual outlooks. The tool, facilitated by Catch, was designed and built to be AA compliant, a real testament to the credibility of the design team. This was subsequently proven by the hundreds that engaged in the process. A wide spectrum of possibilities was submitted, with some proving beneficial in everyday life and others to the world as a whole. One moving entry read “I’d like to see all disability aids and equipment become as well designed and socially acceptable as glasses,” and was supported with a hand-drawn image. It is images like this that make up the 60 and growing current depictions in Scope’s new identity.

The icons present in the logo depict a range of ambitions for either a fairer world or society shining a spotlight on particular aspects. Every icon submitted is kept as a resource to aid the brand’s development. Spindler says, “Every time you see an icon, our hope is you’ll engage with that visually and want to find out what lies behind it.”


However basing the new brand entirely on user-generated content did not come easily, and brought with it a number of design, digital and communications challenges. It was down to Catch to complete the charity’s online image: to completely redesign it and make it fully accessible to its audience. Jonathan Smith, director of Catch, says: “We were presented with a huge challenge with the target audience being disabled, with physical and visual impairments. We had many difficulties in making the content fun to use but fully accessible – it needed to be a dynamic and engaging experience.”

To appreciate the mindset of the users, Catch conducted a workshop with disabled experimental testers at the Shaw Trust, Scope’s accredited partner. The testers demonstrated to Smith and his team how people with varying disabilities use the internet, and shed light on the implications it would have on their work. After fine-tuning their strategy to suit the wider audience, Catch utilised the WAI-ARIA suite to include online content that is accessible to disabled people, without compromising on engagement. Smith says, “Without using that suite of tools we would not have been able to produce a site that was so successful.”

The accessible images are visible on every aspect of Scope’s identity, including their offices, business communication literature as well as online. They are gradually being manifested in the charity’s 238 shops, and the communications team are currently working with Scope’s retail department to portray the identity in an engaging yet natural way for customers.

O’Dwyer says, “We know people who shop in charity shops do so because they want to get a bargain, so we are thinking about this dentity being a really powerful brand to engage people. Our price tags will have a really powerful vignette that will engage customers.”

Scope continues its appeal for stories and pictures from the public depicting their vision of an ideal future for disabled people. The increasing number of stories entered online will enable the brand to become a platform for disabled people, and will help the brand develop around their aspirations. Spindler admits, “It is the most demanding of identities to keep alive, as it has got to constantly reflect the changing mood and desire of all disabled people.” He continues: “The identity is just one manifestation of this, not only representing the dreams and aspirations of disabled people, but acting like a constant reminder as those grow and change over the years.”

While the rebrand is still in its early stages, O’Dwyer recognises that qualitative results are as important as quantitative. “We know that our biggest job is to raise awareness of disability because, unless we do that, Scope as a disability brand will never achieve. We have had some really positive feedback so far and we will be measuring and tracking that.”

While Scope’s brand strategy is still a work in progress, it will be shaped by the stories, aspirations, pictures and experiences that people share with them. Each submission will inform the work of the charity over the coming years, which it hopes will raise awareness and inspire further support from the public. During 2012, Scope intends to discuss the finer points of their strategy, implement a focus drive to generate more icons, and to deliver a targeted campaign – a pro-active push to encourage engagement.

O’Dwyer says, “We have created something that really lives up to our vision of a world where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else. It is about being a collective voice, creating a rich picture and seeing that this is a cause that has real relevance. It is pretty bleak out there but our role is to try and shine a light and show that it is worth fighting for.”