Key challenges 

• The Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust was granted Accredited Museum status by Arts Council England, recognising that it meets the highest standards of management, education, care and access to their historic collections.

• To announce and celebrate this, the trust required marketing support to rebrand; relaunching its Visitor Centre as the ‘Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum’.

• As part of this rebrand, the organisation planned to develop a guidebook, new signage and the development of the Visit Centre shop’s products and marketing. 

The work 

• Working closely with our associate designer, we led as a strategic partner engaging with the trust to understand the audience personas and key messaging to inform brand delivery.

• We presented the trust with two brand options to explore. The first was a heritage option which reflected the distinctive outline of the bridge towers and swoops of the chains. The second had an engineering focus, illustrating the chains and emphasising the importance of the bridge infrastructure. 

The impact 

• Following rounds of feedback and amends, the final brand logo was created, combining elements from both design options. To unveil the new brand identity we welcomed influencers, historians and media journalists from our network to an exclusive event. As part of this unveiling event, we welcomed His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant Mrs Peaches Golding OBE CStJ to introduce the brand identity to our influencers. 

• The new brand identity has since been endorsed by industry bloggers such as Bristol History and media publications including Bristol 24/7 and BBC Bristol, raising the profile of the newly accredited museum. Coverage secured following the accreditation announcement, amounted to a total reach of over 1.4 million.