Communicating the legacy from London 2012

Client: Legacy Trust UK

Legacy Trust UK’s aim is to build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for communities across the UK.

Rhoden Green was commissioned by the Trust to develop its communications and marketing strategy.

It was important that the Trust told a clear and compelling story about its role and carved out a distinct position in the crowded policy landscape of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Jo’s first step was to initiate and undertake extensive consultation with Trustees, funders (including DCMS, Arts Council England and the Big Lottery Fund), grant recipients, LOCOG and other Olympic stakeholders to audit people’s perceptions about the Trust and inform its strategic positioning and communications strategy.

Other challenges for the Trust included the diverse nature of its funded programmes, which are managed through a complex regional delivery structure. There are over 70 100 projects and these vary enormously, from London’s Big Dance to the Disabled British Golf Open in the South East, and from the Bafta-winning Tate Movie project to community celebrations across the country.

Jo worked with the Trust on articulating its message – defining the ‘glue’ that links all these activities together – and then developing a clear communications and marketing framework to ensure consistency of message and approach, avoid duplication of effort and make sure all stakeholders at national, regional and local levels were kept informed about the Trust’s work. Clear funding guidelines also helped ensure the Trust’s funding was properly acknowledged in order to help build awareness of the Olympic London 2012 legacy work.

A core element of the communications strategy was a focus on strong imagery, social media and online communications. Jo helped the Trust commission, write and launch its website: www.legacytrustuk.org. She has continued to work closely with the LTUK team on communications and marketing projects including, most recently, a review of stakeholder engagement activity and the launch of the Trust’s Community Celebrations project.