Wolff Olins rebrands WSPA as World Animal Protection

Animal charity the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is rebranding as World Animal Protection, launching a new identity created by Wolff Olins in collaboration with an in-house team.

World Animal Protection Logo
World Animal Protection Logo

The global rebrand came about from the charity feeling there was a  ‘major barrier to the delivery of its strategy, with global awareness of less than seven per cent and public research revealing that it was unclear what the charity stood for’, it says.

It was decided that WSPA needed a new name, identity, personality and culture to better communicate its purpose across its 13 global offices, as the acronym becomes ‘meaningless’ in other language, says the charity.

Wolff Olins was brought in to the project in 2012, beginning work on the rebrand last year. World Animal Protection deputy director of international communications Collette Collins had previously worked with the consultancy in her former role as a brand strategist at EE, and it was appointed without a pitch. The in-house team at the charity was led by Pippa Rodger.

The new World Animal Protection identity is based on the strapline ‘we move the world to protect animals’.

About us leaflet
About us leaflet

Collins says, ‘We wanted to build a global brand – before we were little more than a logo which didn’t talk about who or what we were. Historically you could see there was no core brand at the heart of it – we needed an identity that was strong enough to stretch globally’.

The new logo is based on a compass-like design, which the charity says ‘reflect[s] the fact that we’re global and that we want to point the way to the solution for animal suffering’.

Elements of the logo can be extracted and applied to other branding applications, such as used as a pointer online or on other communications.

The orange of the former WSPA branding was retained, and the Futura typeface has been introduced.

Collins says,  ‘Because we’re working with such strong photography and video content we didn’t want something that would compete with it. The orange is a colour that can highlight action.’

She adds, ‘[The identity] needed to have global impact so we put the words within the logo, to give flexibility in different language and characters. It had to work with the breadth of audience we work with – form communities around the world with very low literacy levels to the UN and at government level, and also engage supporters.’

China office introductory brochure
China office introductory brochure

The new identity launches this week in the UK, and over the next two weeks will gradually roll out across the other territories the charity works with, including the Netherlands, the US, Canada, China and Denmark.

Infographic
Infographic
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Comments
  • Matt - November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Looks unfinished as does its application.

    Shame its application only shows it being used in one other way (a constant?)

    “we’re global and that we want to point the way” – as shown going downhill!

  • Lisa Williams November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Absolute garbage.

  • Dan Shaw November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    What a poor piece of work.

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