MHA
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MHA is a charity providing care, accommodation and support services for more than 16,000 seniors throughout Britain.
Nonprofit Charity | Derby, England
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
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MHA, an independent British charity, was founded by the Methodist Church during World War II with the goal of providing shelter and resources for the elderly. For over seventy years now, it has been overseeing the efforts of local care homes; it currently manages 90 such homes, housing 5,000 older people — many receiving dementia and nursing care. A further 2,000 live in purpose-built apartments and 9,000 more live independently in their own homes. The seniors are spread across England, Wales, Scotland, and even the Isle of Man. The problem was that the homes and communities operated mostly autonomously, and it's only been in the recent years that the organization has tried to unify the various living situations (called "schemes") into a single entity. The schemes have all been self-run, using their own messaging, mediums, and marketing tactics. Most of these are deeply ingrained, as they've been acting independently for close to seventy years. “We needed a new system. Each live-at-home scheme operated independently, with no commonality or branding. We wanted unity.” - Kwan Cheung Community Marketing Specialist, MHA
The challenge
The solution
Kwan Cheung, Community Marketing Specialist at MHA, found Lucidpress with a simple Google search, with the search term "newsletter template" while he was trying to solve their messaging problem. It immediately appealed to him because he knew all of the schemes were using different systems and would require a cloud-based solution. Another important factor was simplicity; Kwan had tried other programs and was disappointed by the high learning curve. MHA wanted something that managers—not just designers—could easily use. Looking professional was a requirement, and he also wanted something that wouldn't require a change in hardware for any of the schemes. As part of MHA's overall goals, the corporate design team developed a brand manual. Kwan takes those brand guidelines and creates the templates and locks the essential brand elements. He then sends the locked templates out to the individual schemes, allowing them to add localized content and announcements. He has also used Lucidpress to create branded posters, flyers, and Facebook images.
Brand consistency With Lucidpress and template locking, the newsletters from each scheme all have a consistent look and feel, and important messaging from both MHA and the local scheme gets out to all readers. Each newsletter strengthen the MHA brand with professional design and personalized content. The quality of the newsletters reinforces the idea that MHA is a professional, high quality organization.
Increased sense of community The senior citizens supported by MHA have many physical needs that are provided by the organization. But they also have more intangible needs: friendship, usefulness, and a sense of belonging. Loneliness is a real issue, and the increased, more-polished communication with their scheme, and MHA overall, helps them with a feeling of engagement that had been lacking.
Marketing efficiency Local schemes don’t have to strain themselves with design work they aren’t equipped for, and designers at the corporate level don’t have to worry about making mundane layout changes for each local scheme. Everyone is able to devote their time to the jobs they’re trained to do. It’s the perfect balance: localized groups focus on messaging that will be valuable for their residents, and MHA dedicates its resources to building and maintaining a consistent brand and messaging.
The results
Advanced template locking Official templates can be customized without sacrificing brand consistency.
Customizable Homes can produce both regular and large print newsletters for seniors with poor eyesight.
Collaboration The organization can work seamlessly with its local homes, getting more done in less time.
Ease of use The interface is intuitive and easy for local schemes to add/modify content.
Features they love
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