The opportunity/challenge
In 1998, Community Aid Abroad had not long before rebranded as Oxfam Australia. While Oxfam is an international charity with wide brand recognition in the UK and Europe, this was not the case in Australia – it was virtually unknown. Community Aid Abroad was the better known brand.
Oxfam started as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in England in 1942. Community Aid Abroad began in Melbourne’s suburbs in 1953 as a church group called Food for Peace Campaign, founded by Father Gerard Kennedy Tucker. The group sent weekly donations to a small health project in India, and eventually, Food for Peace Campaign groups were established throughout Victoria.
The organisation wanted to reposition itself as Oxfam Australia staying connected with current supporters – who supported its history of strong community engagement, advocacy work and secular status – and attract new supporters who also cared about the global impact of the Oxfam network.