Natuurmonumenten: an organisation in motion

A respectable gentleman in a grey coat.

That's how the Natuurmonumenten brand was described. By the public — but also today by Wieger van Beek, brand manager at Natuurmonumenten, who explains the image many people have of the nature organisation.

It is April 2014. 'We' are Alexander Koene and Kim Cramer of BR-ND. We are being introduced to the successes and challenges of Natuurmonumenten. The organisation is in transition. Wieger and his colleague Simone Lubbers (together responsible for 'the brand') tell us about the questions the association is facing.

The central brand question is how Natuurmonumenten can remain relevant and appealing — in other words, how the brand can connect with people even more deeply.

The fact that it is a membership-based association may not help in this era of short-lived relationships, where the concrete answer to the 'what's in it for me' question seems to be paramount. Today's consumer is no longer the consumer of the past, who committed long-term to a good cause, a political party or a broadcasting association.

"The average age of our members and volunteers rises a little every year. That shows how difficult it is to attract young people," says Wieger.

Combined with declining government subsidies, the importance of an attractive brand becomes urgent — quite simply, more support is needed.

The people are the brand

"The brand needs to get closer to people again — but you don't achieve that by tinkering with your external communications alone. Something needs to happen internally too. Our strongest image driver is our behaviour — from everyone who works for or on behalf of Natuurmonumenten. The people are the brand," says Simone.

In that context, the forest wardens are just as important as the leadership team, if not more so. They are, after all, in daily contact with the visitors to Natuurmonumenten's areas. Their opinion matters.

What do those wardens and visitors actually think? Their feelings about Natuurmonumenten were explored using 23plusone — BR-ND's method for uncovering human emotional drivers.

Employees, volunteers, members and non-members took part in the BR-ND Insider and Outsider, where they could contribute input to the brand development process.

Wieger: "Of course, we've done brand exercises before. With outcomes that helped us move forward step by step. But we had never before involved our internal and external stakeholders so intensively. The advantage is that collective knowledge is far better utilised and people recognise themselves in the result.

Instead of a brand project conducted for and by the brand manager, this was an organisation-wide exploration of our desired identity, including the associated behaviour. Internal branding began before any brand strategy had even been formulated."

Brand portfolio

What stood out in the Insider and Outsider research was that love for the brand is high. But the respectable gentleman was felt to need to become considerably more creative and adventurous.

People want to enjoy nature in their own way, while Natuurmonumenten is still primarily associated with protecting and managing.

"What also stood out was that many of our customers are completely unaware that they are using our products and services," says Simone. "They visit our areas without knowing they belong to Natuurmonumenten. Until now, we haven't communicated that very clearly either.

Having taken a good look at our brand portfolio, we've concluded that our areas are our crown jewels — and that we need to make the link with Natuurmonumenten far more explicit, including in branding."

The same applies to OERRR, the youth proposition. Three years ago it was introduced as a campaign concept aimed at children and young families. OERRR stands for playing in nature, getting muddy, climbing trees — above all, going off the path. Children could sign up for free. A great success.

After two and a half years, OERRR is just as well-loved as Natuurmonumenten after more than a hundred years — with 200,000 children registered compared to 600,000 Natuurmonumenten members.

OERRR proved, in one go, capable of doing what Natuurmonumenten had been struggling to do for some time: striking the right chord with people. But you can also easily calculate that 'free' is as attractive to consumers as it is unattractive to the business.

Wieger: "We also now know that OERRR hasn't done much for Natuurmonumenten in terms of brand association transfer. The question of how these two brands relate to each other was the reason for bringing BR-ND in. That and the goal of connecting with people better through emotive branding. The 23plusone method appealed to us because it's a connecting language that allowed us to engage our stakeholders in dialogue."

Everyone is welcome

The foundations of the brand strategy were built in the BR-ND Kitchen — a co-creative session with a representative group from the organisation. The result is a story built on three pillars and a simple purpose: we love nature.

Simone: "While the focus in the past was on protecting through management and conservation, we now realise that encouraging people to go into nature is actually the best way to protect it. By experiencing nature, you come to appreciate it. It gains meaning for you. That tree is no longer just made of wood — it becomes significant. And significance is something you want to cherish.

People need to feel welcome in nature, to feel responsible, to participate. Not just birdwatchers and hikers — everyone is welcome. The spirit of OERRR will be much more present in Natuurmonumenten: come and play!"

Wieger and Simone have been working on the Natuurmonumenten brand for some time. Why will the transition succeed now? Wieger: "Not by simply telling a new story with a new campaign. The organisation has been changing for a while. Simply put — we have to.

Happily, we notice the momentum is building and the right direction is becoming increasingly clear. The arrival of Marc van den Tweel, our managing director, just over two years ago ushered in a new era.

One of his first posts on our intranet was 'who wants to go mountain biking in nature?' Previously, this would have been unthinkable! A policy vision from 1999 — which had never been updated — stated that a birdwatcher ranked above a hiker in 'nature visitor status', who ranked above a hiker with a dog, who ranked above... and so on.

Now we welcome everyone in nature, whether you want to meditate, cycle or have a picnic."

Behaviour manifesto

It has now been just over a year since the first conversations with BR-ND.

Kim Cramer: "Throughout the process, everyone in the organisation could continue the dialogue on the social platform 'Natuurmonumenten in beweging' (Natuurmonumenten in motion). The enthusiasm was high — people were constantly talking to each other about the new direction and the bumps along the road.

In order not to focus solely on the story but also on the associated behaviour of employees, a behaviour manifesto was created by the people themselves — on the basis of which each team is now further developing its own behaviour and activation.

This way, every individual is challenged to think about what is good for the culture and thus for the success of the organisation. Because that success is ultimately what determines the continuity of Natuurmonumenten."

It is clear that success cannot be guaranteed with membership as the primary business model. Experiments are underway with new forms of revenue generation, such as crowdfunding and equity participation. The advantage of these is that citizens feel responsible and together care for their piece of nature — literally co-ownership, with Natuurmonumenten as facilitator.

That demands a great deal from the organisation. New behaviour, new ways of working and new people must bring the story to life.

"We have never been this far," says Wieger.

Curious about the renewal of Natuurmonumenten? Watch the brand movie and read the brand story.