YPO – ‘Public Value Champions’:
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation is a B2B organisation that was established in 1974, to act as a buying consortium for local government and educational establishments, getting better deals for its members.
In 2012, they embarked on a three-year business strategy to become the UK’s number 1 public sector buying organisation. We gave them a new name, a compelling proposition, and a new brand identity to help them raise their profile nationally, engage with internal audiences and deliver the growth they aspired to.
We needed to:
• Raise the profile of YPO nationally, supporting UK-wide growth.
• Engage with internal audiences to help improve their customer service.
• Help deliver growth and increase the level of dividend paid to the public sector.
We found that YPO needed to focus less on education, and instead on raising the profile of other supplies and services, and to look more modern. The new strategy had to be articulated into the brand platform, including a vision, mission, values and personality. At the heart of the brand, we wrote an external proposition and brand essence of ‘Public Value Champions’.
To create a more modern, sophisticated, national brand, we recommended stripping it back a bit and becoming a little bit more simplified; renaming to, YPO. The identity turned out to be a confident, proud, brave and leads. by example. We injected modernity and sophistication, all through a bespoke type solution for the logo. This was supported by a new streamline: ‘Better Value, Delivered’.
The result is a beautiful brand with a meaningful purpose. Since the rebrand, YPO has developed new national partnerships from 13 in 2012 to 63 in 2016, experienced a 384% increase in associate members, and employee engagement had a 58% increase.
“Our work with Thompson has transformed YPO from a local primary school supplies business into a leading national procurement partner.”
Paul Smith, Executive Director
