Making Change Matter™ for all the right reasons

438 team working together

The only constant in life? Change.

Those aren’t our words, but those of the Ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. And he’s right. As humans, we’re created to embrace change and grow because of it.

But while change is inevitable, it’s how you manage it that matters. Darwin hit the nail on the head when he said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent but the one that is most adaptable to change”. Something’s that just as true for organisations as it is for toucans, whose long, large bill has evolved to allow it to reach fruit from branches too weak to support its weight. Interesting, eh?

Since opening our doors in 2005, we’ve prided ourselves on creating ‘work that works’. In short, work that produces results, whether that’s shaping an organisation’s image, changing how people view its products or services, or increasing its revenue and profitability. And no matter what that work is, on some level, it’s propelled by change.

Which is why now, we’re evolving ourselves, by making ‘work that works’ matter even more, and positioning 438 as the Making Change Matter™ agency.

Yep, we believe in the philosophy so much, we even went ahead and trademarked it. This is important stuff. It isn’t change for change’s sake. And like anything that matters, our own change is driven by purpose rooted in strategy.

Living life with more purpose

So, let’s take a step back and tell you how we got here…

With so much of modern life seen as disposable, the notion of making what we do matter seems more important than ever. And that’s not just ‘we’ as an agency, but ‘we’ as global citizens. Living life with more purpose, eschewing complacency, having goals, being more considerate about the choices we make, these are all really, really important. In fact, not having them makes life pretty rubbish.

So why should organisations be any different? Shouldn’t they also be growing, tweaking their offerings, and making sure that everything they do sits well with them and is good for their customers, their business and, of course, their brand?

Think about your ‘why’

Organisations adjust to minor changes all the time, whether to increase productivity, in response to a new regulation, or to improve employee relations. But in addition to these adjustments, there are larger pressures, like competition, technology, or customer demands which require greater changes.

So, with all work inherently a product of change, our purpose is making that matter in all the ways outlined above. This isn’t a new stance. We’ve always been producing work driven by purpose. Nothing we’ve done has been for the sake of it, and it never will be.

Take Bright Horizons, one of the UK’s leading childcare providers. After the pandemic, and with its ever-expanding B2C and B2B offering, its brand story was changing shape. We helped them evolve their brand with a fresh look and feel that captured both its heritage and vision for the future.

With Waters Corporation, the world’s leading provider of analytical instruments and software for the life, materials, and food sciences, our challenge was to raise the awareness of their award-winning latest product by developing an emotive, benefit-led campaign to compel researchers to make the switch. While for PepsiCo, the challenge was how to change the way the brand is seen around the world to create a sense of global unity to unlock the brand’s full potential.

A philosophy for life

Like people, living, breathing brands need strategy to guide and support them, so they can stand up in the world with purpose and clarity. A bit like scaffolding, if you like, so that they can do all they do with confidence and make it meaningful at the same time. Fully owning it.

That’s why Making Change Matter™ has not only become our guiding light, but a philosophy we stand by. Every time we take a brief, we ask ourselves what change we’re making for our client, and why it matters. And outside the agency we’re asking ourselves and our staff the same question, using our Making Change Matter™ and Willig Days in positive ways to make a real difference to the wider community.

So, whether it’s designing and building a website, launching a product, or reimagining a brand – our people are here to work with your people to make change happen for all the right reasons, in all the right ways.

If you’re thinking of making some changes to your brand positioning, ask yourself the following

  • How will these improve your organisation and provide your customers with a better product or service?
  • What are your brand goals and is your positioning in line with these?
  • What’s your brand story and does your current positioning tell it well?

Then, before doing anything else, drop us a line. Change matters, so do it well.

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