How Natuurmonumenten wants to become attractive again

'Reduced government support is pushing us towards our customers'

Nature organisation Natuurmonumenten is building a fresher and, above all, more relevant identity. 'It's not that things were going badly for Natuurmonumenten, but it's time to take a clearer position,' says Wieger van Beek, brand manager at Natuurmonumenten.

What was wrong with the Natuurmonumenten brand?

Wieger van Beek: 'We are no longer as successful as we were in the 1980s, when we had almost a million members. We see our membership numbers slowly declining and face the same challenges as any other corporate brand. Heineken was once called "your father's beer", but they eventually managed to turn that image around impressively. For Natuurmonumenten too, this is a good moment to look at our own brand values and prevent ourselves from fading into the background.'

Why is a transition needed now? And couldn't this have happened four years ago?

'We were still achieving small successes, but we were still strongly tied to the government. Reduced government support is, in a sense, pushing us towards our customers. This is not just about finances, but above all about creating public support. Our nature is important to the liveability of the Netherlands, and that gives us a strong social role.'

And how do consumers play a role in that?

'By analogy with "The Night Watch", we have made a choice between hiding the painting in a dark room or displaying it to people in the light — which means the painting needs more intensive maintenance. By having people more involved and consciously enjoying nature in our areas, they will also be more inclined to support us. That is why we are going to ground our brand more in emotion, rather than reason.'

How do you give consumers more emotion?

'Nature experience is emotion. We realise that there are seventeen million ways to enjoy nature. We also want to offer people more ways to participate in Natuurmonumenten.

This means giving people more opportunities to help and to be part of Natuurmonumenten. It's not just about recruiting members, but about being present and the contact with our staff. Sharing nature is equally important.

Above all, our employees will need to make a shift — take our forest wardens, for example. The focus is broadening from simply protecting nature to hosting and supervising the areas.

We are, for instance, looking at how we can involve local residents more in the design of an area, and we are letting mountain bikers maintain their own trails in exchange for a say in decisions. In this way we serve people better and create lasting engagement with nature. That was previously unthinkable.'

How important has the youth project OERRR been to the new transition?

'Absolutely pivotal. More than that — we could not have taken this step without OERRR. OERRR showed us the potential of emotional marketing.

It's not about urgency, but about how much fun nature is for children. For parents, OERRR is about the importance and relevance of nature in children's lives.

By experiencing nature as a child, you come to appreciate it. That is how the nature conservationists of the future are created.

That is also why we chose the "23 plus one" model from brand consultancy BR-ND, because this model helps you map and activate the emotions associated with your brand. Ultimately, we hope to use it to secure the future and liveability of our natural areas.'

This article was also published in Adformatie.