BMC
Finding common ground and a common voice.
The BMC (British Mountaineering Council) is the representative body for all mountain related activities in the UK. It represents an incredibly diverse group, covering hardened mountaineers seeking solitude on the most remote peaks, hillwalkers, traditional climbers on crags and sea cliffs, through to indoor competitive sport climbers.
The outdoors has seen an explosion of active participants since the pandemic, many of whom were unaware of the BMC’s existence and its core role in protecting their freedoms.
“As we grow towards 100,000 members it’s important that we strengthen our voice and shout about the work that we so passionately deliver, from campaigning for freedom of access and the right to roam, to funding conservation projects and providing world-class training to ensure that every individual’s experience in the outdoors is as good as it can be.
“Outside of Ordinary has played an instrumental role in assisting us to do so, providing the BMC with a strong and consistent voice and a confident, clear, and cohesive identity as we look to future growth. We could not have chosen a better agency partner and are looking forward to continuing our work together.”
— Gavin Finch, Chief Commercial Officer.
The Challenge
At its simplest, our task could be summarised with three key goals:
Create greater awareness and recognition for the BMC and its work.
Unite its diverse stakeholders and audience groups behind a shared and inclusive goal.
Grow membership numbers.
Our Approach
With so many diverse initiatives ranging from access to wild places, training elite indoor climbers for Olympic success and encouraging diversity in the outdoors, the BMC had come to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Our aim was to get rid of the ‘noise’ created by so many micro-campaigns and initiatives in order to create greater awareness and attribution to the BMC as a whole.
We had to look beyond the individual tactics and initiatives and find what united everything the BMC does. Something that would allow a mountaineer to see a piece of hillwalking activity and relate to its objectives, or an indoor climber to relate to the vision behind a piece of access work for a remote crag.
This meant a refinement of the core articulation for the brand as a whole, followed by tailored versions of this to speak to the individual specialisms the BMC acts on behalf of.
Adventure. Community. Action.
Visually, there was a further need for simplification. Legacy brand activity had resulted in a vast array of styles and inconsistency, leading to a lack of attribution. We pared everything back to arrive at a universal style that could stamp the BMC’s ownership on everything the organisation delivers. We didn’t reinvent the wheel, we simply found it again in a crowded workshop. Further to this, we created a set of discipline specific colourways and assets that complement the umbrella brand but help provide orientation within it.
The Output
A comprehensive brand articulation document to help motivate and align all stakeholders behind the BMCs mission.
A Brand Guidelines document to support the consistent roll out of new branded collateral, in keeping with the master brand vision.
The Results
The new look and feel for the brand and the new articulation have helped to streamline all brand comms and help the organisation speak with one voice.
This has led to a greater sense of internal pride at the BMC.
Day to day marketing materials can be executed with greater efficiency and consistency.
New corporate partners have been recruited.
