National Seniors Australia approached Brightlabs to invigorate their website and create a one-stop shop for their members, demonstrating their achievements and also advertising the diverse services offered to their membership base. Due to my previous success at Southbank Institute of Technology I came on board as a Design and Branding Consultant to overview their website go-live and create a number of startegic campaigns to increase awareness in the community of the lobbying and member services that were offered by the not-for-profit organisation. Our challenge was the difficult task of recruiting people who vary widely in age, socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Focus group feedback indicated that National Seniors Australia had to remake its image to appeal to baby boomers and dispel the notion that membership is just for retirement-home residents.

A series of targeted new media campaigns utilising google adwords, specialised landing pages and facebook advertising along with a radio campaign with a concerted push towards social media was launched. To support the brand all services were revised and a new membership brochure was produced. As part of this new design development, a new colour scheme was devised post web-development, to further enhance the image of National Seniors and inject much needed energy to the brand. In consultation with members, a number of forms online and in paper form were reviewed and redesigned.

Among National Seniors ongoing goals are attracting a more diverse membership, heightening awareness of their lobbying activities, and recruiting 30 percent of people 50 and up by 2014. Creating a strong brand is a building initiative. To create a strong presence in the 50 plus sector, a number of workshops were organised to ascertain how the current members viewed the organisation. Two workshops were organised within the organisation with staff and volunteers to further solidify what needed to accomplished.

It was evident during these workshops that suggestions by members and staff were not being implemented or given due care. Members expressed a strong preference for imagery that showed active people inline with their age group. Many felt that the past imagery used in brochures and campaigns were showcasing people that did not resonate with members.