Cachet vzw is a Flemish organisation that works with young people in youth aid. The organisation is active throughout Flanders and offers a meeting place for and by young people with a youth aid experience. Cachet also forms a network that enters into dialogue with policymakers and aid workers with one common goal: participatory youth aid.

The organisation has built up a strong reputation within the sector in recent years. It carries out various successful projects and thus knows how to reach many young people and supervisors with its activities, lectures and collaborations. But just that makes it very difficult for Cachet to keep its focus on things. Every time new projects, new collaborations and new project employees make sure that the noses are not always in the same direction.

Within Cachet the awareness arose that a strong brand strategy would help the organization to keep a grip on things and to be able to grow further. A trajectory was mapped out in which the organization would develop that strategy step by step.

First of all, a substantive analysis of the operation was made. What does Cachet do and what doesn’t? Which target groups does it focus on and where exactly does it want to be in ten years’ time? What promise does the organization make to its stakeholders and what makes it unique in the sector?

Then no less than 7 different buyer personas were defined. The complete offer of Cachet was screened and matched with these personas. In a next step the roles were reversed. From the perspective of the buyer persona’s it was examined what needs they had and how Cachet offered an answer or solution. This double mapping with the offer made clear at a single glance which part of the offer should be the focus of the communication strategy. In addition, the customer journeys of the 7 buyer personas were drawn. This showed that the organization still had a number of gaps in the area of touch points in the consideration and loyalty phase.

With all this information in its pocket, Cachet could start working on a new marketing and communication strategy. The user stories served as a basis for the development of a new tree structure and wireframes of the organization’s website. The corporate identity was critically examined with the buyer personas as a touchstone: to what extent did it meet their needs and expectations? In a communication audit, all communication carriers were screened and looked at how they could – if adjusted – be put to maximum use in all customer journeys.

The strategic trajectory that Cachet ran, also had consequences for the internal functioning. The organization itself got a better view on the whole and could therefore more easily set priorities in the operation. For the marketing and communication manager, a clear working framework was created, which also enabled her to plan her work better and put the right emphasis on it. The outcome of a strategic trajectory is therefore usually much more than the agreed output.