Bray Leino wins pitch for digital transformation

Since the early 1990s, the National Forest has transformed over 200 square miles of the Midlands from black to green, planting more than 9 million trees in an area that was previously one of the least wooded parts of the country. Now the charity is looking ahead and wants to become a driver for positive change.

The National Forest has established an ambitious new 25-year vision, that seeks to put in place the building blocks to deliver mitigation and adaptation to climate change, to become a model for sustainable living that can be applied nationwide. The Forest's history and experience means it is a leading voice in sustainability, with the ability to shape national environmental policy.

The new website needs to showcase the National Forest’s position, raising its profile by bringing the vision and recently updated brand to life. But the National Forest audience is uniquely diverse, as well as residents and visitors, the audience includes partners, government bodies and third sector organisations, along with businesses both within and outside of the Forest.

Our proposed approach, informed by comprehensive heatmapping of the existing website, will re-imagine the site architecture to focus on storytelling alongside encouraging people and businesses to engage with the National Forest’s vision. It was this original approach to digital transformation, along with our Agency’s own sustainability agenda, which appealed to the Client.

Bray Leino was founded in the wilds of Devon over 45 years ago, and our environment continues to play a huge role in our culture as a business. As the Agency continues to grow, our commitment to our local and wider environment is translating into policies and initiatives, spearheaded by our internal Green team. Many of our values, such as reaching net zero carbon by 2030, directly align with those of the National Forest.

David Bourque, Director of Development at the National Forest Company says: "The climate emergency means that we must be more ambitious and act quickly. The National Forest’s vision takes a more dynamic approach to the challenges faced by nature, society and economy, finding innovative solutions that benefit all three simultaneously. The new website will bring all this to life in an accessible, compelling and engaging way. It was important that we found an Agency that understood not only what we do but why we do it, and we were particularly impressed with Bray Leino’s passion for sustainability and the National Forest."

Patrick Furse, Digital Director at Bray Leino says: "Today, businesses are urgently looking to address the sustainability agenda and actively respond to tackle climate change; the National Forest has been doing this for years, making it an influencer with a positive story in this space. The new website is more than a visitors’ information centre, it’s a digital platform from which the National Forest can share its story and mark itself as a credible changemaker."

The website redesign builds on a growing relationship between Bray Leino and the National Forest. Previously media-only, our remit of work has expanded to include creative campaigns. Most recently, in 2020 we helped the National Forest quickly respond to the Covid pandemic with a creative campaign run across national press, encouraging Britons to reconnect with nature during national lockdown. Website work is now underway and the National Forest’s new digital home will launch in 2022.

For information on how our digital solutions can drive growth for your business, or to understand our sustainability initiatives and associated services for Clients, contact Adam Holder, Managing Partner.