Woodland Trust
Making brand work harder
The Woodland Trust is one of the UK’s most respected environmental organisations – a national voice for trees, people and the planet. Recognising that its brand had become misunderstood and underutilised by its own people for the scale of its ambition, we were tasked with reviewing, revamping and strengthening it through a mixed media creative campaign.
Following a full audit and restructure of the brand’s strategy, we developed a creative campaign that celebrated the importance of having a strong Woodland Trust brand and its role in creating confidence, garnering support and ultimately increasing donations amongst the general public. Deliberately bold, the campaign served as a collective commitment – reinforcing the idea that brands are delivered by everybody, and that every Woodland Trust person has a role to play in making it thrive.
Simple but powerful, we developed the ‘Us’ concept to act as a springboard for bringing people from every part of the organisation together. And to serve as a positive, ongoing reminder that the Woodland Trust brand is something they can all share, take pride in and nurture together.
Emotion was the bridge that turned a concept into a campaign — transforming Us from an idea people understood into one they truly believed in.
Tapping into pride, belonging and responsibility helped the campaign connect with people on a human level – inspiring them to see the brand not as an external identity, but as something they actively shaped and lived every day.
An internal campaign like this can have a profound impact in increasing the baseline of understanding as to what a brand is and does across a organisation. So the benchmark we set for the project was the same for any other we take on, to help The Woodland Trust “become the best version of itself”.
A deliberate combination of woodland and people shots reiterate the intertwining of the two subjects – and place The Woodland Trust employees at the heart of the action in creating value and delivering on their brand promise.
The campaign’s main film brings graphic, footage, sound and animation together to tell a single, straightforward and motivating story. We packed the script with emotion – and chose to have it voiced by a number of Woodland Trust people speaking a variety of accents to again reiterate collective pride.
We knew that progress requires courage, so worked out when to push boundaries, and how far to go – creating space for evolution while staying grounded in authenticity.
That’s where illustration played a key role – providing freshness but working perfectly within the existing visual system.
“I was so excited to work alongside Cubic on the illustrations for the Woodland Trust because their tone of voice felt so closely aligned with my own stylistic approach; hand-crafted, warm and analog. Each animation was drawn frame by frame and focused on the simple joy of being out in nature which has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. I often take walks to clear my head or inspire new ideas, and so it was important to me that these illustrations captured the sense of clarity and simplicity that comes from a peaceful stroll in the woods.”
Con McHugh
Illustrator
“We set about developing a campaign that was a true reflection of who The Woodland Trust is. So it’s not surprising that our creative thinking and doing emerged directly from the heart of the organisation through a combination of discovery and invention. Everything we’ve created has built on the pride, care and connection people already felt – which is why it resonates so deeply. But I’m glad that ‘Us’ will be the vehicle to translate and transport The Woodland Trust brand more deeply across the organisation.”
Oliver Bingham
Managing Director, Cubic
