RELISH, REBRAND
Rebrand from a B2B product brand to a world leading dementia wellbeing brand
Active Minds designed activity products and games for people living with dementia and their carers. It was functional, and primarily focused on use by experts within a care home setting.
The dementia care products market is functional and fragmented but growing rapidly. The opportunity was there for Active Minds to grow direct-to-consumer channels, but it required a completely fresh approach.
Challenging the dementia narrative
We positioned Active Minds as the world’s leading dementia wellbeing brand – less about function and more about outcomes.
Instead of a focus solely on the brain, memory and loss, our new proposition celebrates everything that is still possible for those living with dementia and their carers, leveraging the key role the brand plays in bringing joy and connection.
Relish Life
The rebrand began with the search for a new name. From Active Minds, a functional name that focused solely on the brain narrative, we rebranded to relish, a name that speaks to wellbeing and relishing every moment of time together.
We created a simple brand logo and identity, lowercase for a friendly, approachable expert feel. Colours and typography were chosen for their complementary and calming properties. It feels like a brand that anyone can enjoy rather than a clinical tool.
The power of positive feelings
Research told us that people living with dementia continue to feel the positive feelings long after moments of connection and joy. These positive feelings build self-esteem which is key to wellbeing.
This powerful insight inspired our simple, hand-drawn, organic shapes that represent positive feelings, and moments of connections surrounding the brand. Imagery is upbeat capturing moments of emotion and optimism between loved ones and the power of connections.
A friendly ally
We set out to be a friendly ally, gently educating throughout the dementia journey and helping carers understand how to communicate with loved ones living with dementia and get the most out of the product experience.
Successful outcomes were dependent on carers getting the most out of the product and encouraging loved ones to join in, so we included little prompts and guides to help keep fragmented conversations alive.
Celebrating the individual
Dementia can often end up defining the individual. Instead we celebrated individuals and their different interests. Some individuals are competitive and motivated by challenge, others are more self-reflective and artistic.
We renamed products to reflect these different interests from nature lovers, to travel enthusiasts. The approach gave products a wider audience beyond the product itself.
A total wellbeing system
We created a system to explain the wellbeing benefits of every product, using latest dementia thinking on 7 Domains of Wellbeing. Each of these levers drives the creative process internally as well as act as a signpost to consumers, so that products and activity always have a purpose.
Joy and function combine in a simple customer set of benefits that help carers to navigate the benefits of every product.
Understanding the dementia journey
Research found that carers didn’t understand the dementia journey which meant they routinely over or underestimated what their loved ones were capable of when it came to picking products. To be successful a product had to be easy enough to build esteem, but also the right level of challenge to keep people engaged.
We designed a simple staged dementia journey to help ensure successful product navigation. It simply explained the stages and product design suitability, reinforcing brand expertise and simply segmented products to ensure successful wellbeing outcomes.
