Brands need to change, because the world around us constantly does. Currently we’re transforming how Friends as a brand approach their fight against bullying. We asked Maja Frankel, Secretary General at Friends, about her thoughts about developing Friends as a brand. And about collaborating with BARBRO.
In what way do you think Barbro and Friends is a good match?
”You immediately can tell that Barbro is committed to societal change and has extensive experience from working with purpose driven brands. That’s one thing. You also dig very deep deep into our challenges in order to understand and to find the right solutions. It feels good that your idea of making a real difference in society comes through in the way you take on the work.”
What is your experience of our collaboration?
”What excites me is that we are in constant progress. Initially we thought we would be working on a different type of project, but in our collaboration we have discovered new challenges and solutions, which has taken us in a whole new direction. We have been challenged and supported in making prioritization that keeps us moving forward. I also appreciate that so much happens in between our meetings. Ideas and thoughts, discussed in one meeting, have been visualized and clarified to the next.”
”We can’t expect to go further and beyond if we’re not willing to change our ways of doing things.”
— Maja Frankel, Secretary General at Friends
What are the strenghts in collborating with us?
”We’ve got incredible support in turning our strategy into a clear roadmap. Barbro has done a fantastic job in giving new meaning to our brand, and in bringing our business and competence closer together. And though we have been challenged a lot, we really love seeing our brand develop and the new, reinvented Friends come to life in terms of design, concepts and messaging. With Barbro we get a lot of competence and skills from a few people. It’s fantastic.”
What is your advice to other organizations developing their brands?
”That we can’t expect to go further and beyond if we’re not willing to change our ways of doing things. To me, it is important that we never stop challenging ourselves, and that we’re open to find new paths. And I might come across as a challenging person to work with in that sense. But in my role as secretary general at Friends, everything I do has a bigger purpose: to protect every single child from bullying. So I guess that my advice is let the purpose guide you.”