Cal Roscow, our Executive Director of Marketing, reveals Best for Britain's new style guide and messaging:
I am so pleased to announce that our work to refresh the Best for Britain brand is complete, and we hope you, our supporters and activists, are pleased with the results.
We want everyone; voter, parliamentarian, or business leader, to know that we are fixing the problems Britain faces after Brexit. And that our aim is always to change minds rather than speaking into an echo chamber.
Read on to find out what we have done.
Why have we rebranded?
Extensive research showed that some people thought Best for Britain was still campaigning to stop Brexit, or for a second referendum - after all it was what we set out to do when we created the campain in 2017. But although our work and objectives had changed over the last 5 years - people's perception hadn't. And we found that we had undersold the work we were doing to provide whoever is in government with the tools to avoid the worst effects of leaving the European Union through evidence-gathering, research, and advocacy.
Our new strapline, which refuses to shy away from 'the B word', helps put this right.
What’s changed?
We’ve refreshed how we talk about our work, our visual identity, and even tweaked our logo to include our new slogan Change Minds → Change Politics. We have a brand new website that makes it easier to understand what we do, how you can support us, and most importantly what action you can take to make an impact with us.
And remembering that we consider all our work to be what really is “best for Britain”, we are making greater use of our name, with the introduction of a new brand element; the ‘Workstream Identifier’.
Our new slogan: Change Minds → Change Politics
Change Minds → Change Politics is not just a slogan, it’s a commitment to ensure that everything Best for Britain undertakes is persuasive and changing the politics for the better.
It’s the two questions that we ask ourselves every day: Are we winning people over, or talking into an echo chamber? Are we making politics better, or are we just adding to the toxicity?
We try to make complex politics accessible to all. And it can be difficult to make dry topics engaging. Just as it can be easy to fall into lazy political point scoring. We don't always get it right. But with Change Minds → Change Politics as our north star, everything we do is an attempt to mend an unprecedentedly polarised political landscape.
Our new strapline: Fixing the problems Britain faces after Brexit.
Fixing the problems Britain faces after Brexit.
Everything Best for Britain undertakes, from voter activism and advocacy, to setting up the UK Trade & Business Commission - which makes evidence-based recommendations to government and opposition parties - has been to find solutions to the biggest problems that Brexit has created.
Of course we would all rather that the UK had never left the European Union. Which is why we have 114 recommendations - practical fixes to halt the damage being done, and prevent the needless divergence that makes any future realignment more difficult - that can be implemented by any government of any shade, right away.
Applications to join the EU take, on average, nine years to complete - and in our case, perhaps even longer. Which is more patience than most of us can muster. And why we are campaigning for solutions that can be implemented now.
The UK doesn't have nine years to wait; too many of our businesses are teetering on the brink of collapse, and our young citizens can't miss any more opportunities that are being enjoyed by their contemporaries in the rest of Europe, or - thanks to terrible levels of economic growth in the UK - even the rest of the world.
I hope that our supporters like you will appreciate that Best for Britain is honest about what can and can’t be achieved this year. We refuse to take donations from people, especially in a cost of living crisis, without a coherent plan that has a chance of success, unlike those promising a Rejoin Campaign before having done the work to ensure that we would be allowed back in!
Our new boilerplate:
We are the researchers, data scientists, strategists, and activists,
fixing the problems Britain faces after Brexit.
We conduct polling to help politicians lead debate, not follow it.
We design policy for whoever is in government, today or tomorrow.
And we give voters the tools to speak to, and persuade, those in power.
We believe that when we change minds we change politics for the better.
And that all of this is Best for Britain.
Introducing: The ‘Workstream Identifier’
From now on you will notice that almost everything from Best for Britain contains a short sentence ending in “is BEST for BRITAIN”. We want to make the most of our name, simply because we believe that everything we advocate for really is Best for Britain. And it also helps put us at the heart of the issue, establishing thought leadership.
Here are some of the Workstream Identifiers that you will start to see:
As an example, this is a new poster produced to promote the Youth Mobility Scheme, which was one of the 114 recommendations in the UK Trade & Business Commission ‘Blueprint for Policymakers’ that Best for Britain is now turning into a reality:
Before I sign off, I want to say a huge thank you to all of our supporters, especially those who take action like writing to their MP or the local paper, but of course also those who fund us with donations.
Ever since the 2019 General Election, or indeed the 2016 referendum, it hasn't been easy being a pro-European in the UK. And much of the work we have to undertake can feel less rewarding than the organising protests, marches, and stunts of the earlier years. But of course no less important. If anything, this careful policymaking and campaigning is more important. And I am so proud that we have built a network of half a million people who are prepared to take this kind of action with us.
Those (mostly the Daily Express) that call us "Best for EU" are forgetting that we undertake all this campaigning because it is our sincerest belief that our country is better off working with the EU as closely as possible.
We have the proof of this; 114 recommendations, written from evidence gathered by the UK Trade & Business Commission, that help stem the tide of harm that Brexit has done.
With your support we will build consensus to restore our country's place as a leader in Europe and the European Union (with some much needed economic growth!).
We are called Best for Britain for a reason. Now let's tell the world.
Cal Roscow is Best for Britain's Executive Director of Marketing