Our new identity

This is the start of a new and exciting chapter for Prostate Cancer UK. Through our services, campaigning and research, we support men in the fight against prostate cancer, but we need to reach many more. Not enough men or their families know who we are or how we can help them. Not enough men are aware of prostate cancer.

We have worked hard to create a new name, a new design, and a new communications campaign. We need to present ourselves and our cause in a way that is more direct, open and urgent. Our identity reflects our changing ambitions and will appeal to the men we are here to represent.

We have done all this for one reason only. Because prostate cancer, which kills one man every hour in the UK, is still much less understood than it needs to be, and needs vastly more funding for research. We have done all these things because we believe men deserve better.

If we want more men to access our services, more major funders to invest in ground breaking research and to lead and participate in more conversations about the key issues, we need to be easily recognised and understood. We must stand out in order to reach more men and attract more funding.

Our research has shown that only three of the top hundred UK charities use the word 'Charity' in the name and that the word is associated with fundraising, children, and dependency - not with authority, research, or expertise.

We are already feeling inspired by our new identity because we believe it puts us in a much better position to deliver real change for men with prostate cancer.

'Prostate Cancer UK' is clear, simple, has authority, and importantly still communicates who we are. Our new name reflects our drive to raise awareness of the disease across the whole of the UK.

We hope they will be as inspired as we are by the new identity, what it represents and what we are setting out to achieve - reaching more men and having a greater impact. Simply, we hope they will recognise us as the 'go-to' authority for all issues related to the most common cancer in men.

Our new logo comprises our name and our corporate icon: 'the man of men'. This is strong figure of a man made up of many familiar symbols used to represent men. It represents our aim to reach and represent all men. It's symbolic of the 'movement' we need to create to really bring people together to make a difference to the men confronting this disease. It reflects our strategic ambitions to lead change by bringing the right people together, to find the answers for the future and support men where they need it.

We haven't just created a new visual identity for our charity. We're changing the way we present ourselves and engage with all our key audiences to inform, influence and raise much greater awareness for the cause. We are becoming more direct, bold and open. We are raising our voice and raising our game.

Over a seven month period we commissioned an independent consultancy to analyse how we presented ourselves to the world; consulted with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including men affected by prostate cancer, their families and health professionals. We also worked with creative design professionals who absorbed the learning from the research to create a new distinctive and vivid visual identity reflecting who we are and what we stand for.

We are evolving because we believe men deserve better.

The identity refresh cost £190,000. This included comprehensive research with:

• men with and without prostate cancer

• families

• health professionals

• key stakeholders

• staff

We worked with strategic organisational change advisers to help us improve our understanding of what we did well and where we could improve. We also worked with our digital advisers to improve our website usability.

Over the past seven months we have been running down our publication stocks in anticipation of the new identity, limiting any wastage and saving unnecessary costs.

For a complete brand review this is a very modest spend and we expect to have a significant impact for men with prostate cancer as a result. We see this as a responsible investment to help take our organisation to the next level, to support many thousands more men and their families and to raise much more money for ground breaking research.

We expect to see a significant return from our investment in terms of our impact on men. Our new identity will help us to reach more men and speak more urgently. By raising our voice we will raise the profile of prostate cancer much higher and encourage more people to donate.