Manifesto, the London-based digital agency, today announces that it has been working with the English Speaking Union (ESU) to develop its digital capabilities, following its work in building a bespoke website to celebrate the organisation’s 100 year anniversary in July this year, and engage audiences in its rich history.

The ESU is an educational charity and membership organisation which believes in the power of the spoken word. The organisation has spent 100 years promoting better communication between people of all cultures and countries. The aim of the project was to link the ESU’s history with its future focus: equipping young people with the oracy skills and confidence to engage with the world, discuss their ideas and share them with others.

After an in-depth discovery workshop, Manifesto was able to identify exactly what the site needed to achieve, as well as the key audiences it needed to reach. The organisation also provided Manifesto with a wealth of personal stories, which helped to illustrate its impact, including an archive of imagery that really brought these stories to life.

Armed with this information, Manifesto created the 100 ESU website, an innovative and immersive campaign hub that informs, updates and inspires interaction with the ESU. The hub established a brave new design direction for the website, featuring an animated, colour defined content banner, full-width imagery, bold use of colour and strong typography. WordPress was chosen as the content management system, with a customised page-builder to facilitate the flexible use of images, text and video for more immersive storytelling.

As well as achieving its primary objectives, the project has been a catalyst for driving change across the whole organisation. The ESU is now calling upon Manifesto to help it develop its digital capabilities even further, and is already working on a research project to make sure the charity thrives for another 100 years. 

Jim Bowes, CEO at Manifesto, comments, “We really love digging into the reasoning and thinking behind a brief, so that we can help brands to challenge previous assumptions and ensure that the goals of the project and the organisation are aligned. As soon as the ESU shared its fantastic history and supporting archives with us, we were excited to get stuck in and tell its story, and we are really pleased with the results. What’s more, the campaign has acted as a real springboard for the organisation’s digital transformation. Wherever a business is on its digital journey, it’s essential to build the teams, tools and creative assets that engage and inspire audiences.”

Sarah Matthews, Digital Marketing Manager, English-Speaking Union, says, “We’re delighted with the impact that the website is having so far. It is enabling us to extend our reach further than ever before and to share both our relevance today and the importance of developing oracy skills in young people to improve social mobility. For the first time, we are able to share our compelling alumni stories on a modern, eye-catching platform which reflects the direction we are moving in, as a forward-thinking charity and membership organisation.”