Developing a new brand and website for BIHIMA

BRINGING UNITY TO A NATIONAL HEARING TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

Following a name change to incorporate Ireland and substitute the word ‘aid’ for ‘instrument’, we worked in partnership with Olive Communications to develop a visual style to match that voice.We were given the responsibility of crafting a brand identity that captured BIHIMA’s core values of unity and innovation. These values are central to their mission of uniting the hearing industry and enhancing the quality of life for people with hearing challenges.

In our initial discussions, we understood that unity and sound were the two central pillars of BIHIMA’s work – bringing the industry together and improving outcomes for those with hearing difficulties. These two elements became the heart of the refreshed BIHIMA brand, embodied by a simple sound pulse icon with each dot representing its many members.

Herd designed and built the BIHIMA website with very good accessibility, which is critical for a number of reasons. First, it made the website more inclusive, as it can be used by people with disabilities. Second, it improves the SEO ranking, as search engines like to see websites that are accessible to everyone. Third, it made the BIHIMA website more user-friendly for everyone, as it can be used on a variety of devices and with a variety of assistive technologies. Here are some key elements we focused to ensure good user accessibility for this website build:

• Use clear and concise language.
• Use high-contrast colours.
• Avoid using blinking or flashing content.
• Make sure all content is readable by screen readers.
• Provide alternative text for all images and videos.
• Make sure your website is responsive, so it can be used on a variety of devices.

Beyond branding, we designed a range of collateral including the association’s new website. Distinctly, we took a ‘mobile first’ approach that was tailored to the experience of mobile users who make up the majority of website visitors with the primary goal of member acquisition and building brand awareness as a leading authority in the sector.

Our Impact

• Firmly positioned BIHMA as a leading authority
• Increased membership conversion by 22% since relaunch