The Institute of Directors (IoD) has been rejuvenated following a full brand transformation which boosted employee morale and engagement, and voluntary staff turnover fell 19.8% in five years.
In 2020, the IoD faced an existential crisis. After years of membership contraction, the membership body for business leaders was on the point of technical insolvency. As part of a vision to modernise the organisation and turn its fortunes around, Manasian & Co was engaged to reimagine the brand experience. Midway through the five year plan, the IoD is already at a turning-point, and a younger, more diverse member community is emerging.
With a newly designed website at its core, the brand transformation brought to life the organisation’s purpose, creating a consistent experience across all touchpoints. Signalling modernity and dynamism with its multi-colour palette, inclusive tone of voice and engaging online content, the revitalised brand has changed perceptions of the IoD’s relevance and value. Women now make up 30% of new members joining each month (up from 20% in 2021), and the average age of new members has fallen from 49 to 46.
The repositioning of the brand started in 2021 and was completed by June 2022. In correlation, the IoD’s long-term membership decline first stabilised and then reversed, growing 6% between 2022 and 2024. LinkedIn followers almost doubled to over 100,000 and total revenues grew 43%, from £15.4million in 2021 to £21.7million in 2024. Professional development sales have also soared by more than 156%.
