Unite The Union
Digital partner to one of the UK's biggest Unions
ExploreWe delivered a 3-year digital strategy for England’s largest landowner.
Forestry England (previously the Forestry Commission), is responsible for over 1,500 forest locations nationwide.
Established 100 years ago, Forestry England exists to ensure woodlands are protected and maintained for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone, including future generations.
The organisation continues to play a vital role in promoting the recreational use of forests for health and wellbeing, protecting plants and wildlife, and providing England’s largest source of sustainable timber.
As a geographically distributed business undergoing a digital transformation, Forestry England required a clear and coherent digital communications strategy that aligned with the organisation’s medium and long-term goals.
In 2019 we were appointed to review current activity and produce the three-year digital roadmap that would help meet these goals, establishing the new brand on a national level, whilst also providing flexibility for regional adaptation.
The key objectives for this project were:
Starting with an in-depth discovery phase, we placed emphasis on understanding the behaviours and digital preferences of forest users, as well as gaining a holistic view of stakeholder needs across the breadth of the business.
With so many facets to the organisation, a huge spectrum of audiences, and a multitude of ways that people could use the forests, it became clear that we needed a strategy which would present a unified national brand, but be flexible for marketing teams to adapt to fit regional and audience variations.
During the discovery stage, we used a blend of digital and traditional research techniques to surface insight. These included:
The insight unearthed during this intensive discovery phase was then used to produce a set of strategy documents to guide the organisation’s national and regional teams.
Forestry England now has a coherent and customer-centric digital strategy, covering use of digital channels, content, and technology, and how activity should be measured against objectives.
The accompanying roadmap provides the business with a flexible framework for rolling-out and expanding digital activity over the next three years.