Diabetes Wellbeing

A new organisation for Wiltshire’s NHS clinical commissioning group. Working with a brilliant team we produced a lively, clear and memorable brand to help support those newly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in the Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset areas.

Challenge

Diabetes is on the rise and not enough people are getting the right information at the right time to help reduce problems. We were asked to help by plugging that information gap and simultaneously increasing participation in X-Pert health courses.

These award winning educational courses are held throughout Wiltshire for anyone newly diagnosed with diabetes. The courses help people to develop the knowledge, understanding and confidence to take charge of their own health – amazing!

We knew that by increasing participation in these courses and by putting out trustworthy and clear information we could have an impact, limit diabetes complications and help people to live healthier lives. 👍

Process

Working closely with diabetes groups, doctors and support nurses, we were able to determine the scale of the problem and how it felt to be diagnosed with diabetes – there were always so many questions, alongside a strong sense of hopelessness. We discovered the huge amount of misinformation around diabetes which compounded the problem.

With key stakeholders we explored ideas in a creative workshop environment using various tools to move through divergent and convergent thinking. These exercises produced a rich set of insights to inform strategy. These core truths embodied the qualities that determined the overal brand.

The chosen strategy was to create pocket sized leaflets with a supporting website, both making it easy to book onto an X-Pert course. By setting up a designated booking number we could remove several barriers and reduce waiting times. We would take advantage of GP surgeries throughout Wiltshire as a way to circulate the leaflets.

Workshop questions covered

• What’s the core purpose of the leaflet and the website
• Who are the audience groups?
• What are the long term objectives?
• How will we achieve the objectives?
• How do we want people to feel?
• How do we wish to be perceived?
• What do we want people to remember?

Feel. Know. Do.

We needed people To feel valued, empowered and hopeful. We wanted people to know that a healthy lifestyle would help. We wanted people to book an education sesssion.

All of this vital research helped us to resolve content direction options and informed other key activities:

• Tone of voice
• Persona exercises
• Naming options

Branding

We needed to create an upbeat, memorable identity and a trusted brand – one that would steer clear of medical cliché and focus on clarity, practicality and support throughout all communication. Looking at the market towns of Wiltshire – where many X-Pert courses are held, we used patterns inspired by the surrounding fields as a means to add colour, texture, structure and impact to the identity.

Typography

Trustworthy, modern and friendly. A well chosen typeface supports an identity across all types of media, and it pays to invest in fonts to amplify a brand’s identity. For Diabetes Wellbeing, Pluto was chosen for headings, offset with the classy humanist Bernina Sans for body copy.

Digital

A bespoke website built from the ground up and plugged into Perch – a simple content management system that is easy for clients to handle. The website expands on the leaflet offering broader information, videos and a list of activities and events in local areas.

What’s next?

The project has been nominated for an award and featured on local radio. Wiltshire’s NHS CCG are very happy with a 28% increase in X-Pert course bookings. The next stage is to scale the project to include Type 1 diabetes.

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