Here we explain why we have taken the decision to rebrand, the story behind the new logo, and address some of the questions you may have.

Why has Fifth –Sense decided to rebrand?

We believe that adopting a clearer and stronger name and visual identity will significantly help our efforts to build a better future for everyone living with impaired smell and taste.

Fifth –Sense was established in 2012. We are the only UK charity focused on smell and taste and the leading such organisation globally. In recent years we have grown the scope and scale of our activity, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, which put a spotlight on smell and taste disorders like never before and has significantly increased awareness of these sensory impairments.

We are:

• Providing support and information to ever more people
• Delivering education and training to an increasing range of professional and public audiences
• Growing our research collaborations
• Increasing our campaigning and policy work
• Involving more of our beneficiaries as volunteers and advocates

But there is still much more to do. The people we represent often struggle to get their sensory impairment recognised or treated. There are too few specialist services, a lack of routine smell testing, not enough research into new treatments, and the senses of smell and taste remain undervalued.

We are determined to keep growing our work and drive much-needed change in recognition, support and care for all those impacted by impaired smell and taste, along with a sea change in understanding of just how important these senses are to our lives. We have a great team, an ever-growing body of volunteers, supporters and fundraisers and a strong reputation and track record. We have bold and ambitious plans for the future, and we need the right vehicle for the journey ahead.

The increased awareness of the charity over the last few years has highlighted some drawbacks of the name and brand we have used since our inception. It is not obvious to those who encounter Fifth –Sense for the first time what the charity does from our name alone. Additionally, whilst we represent and support people experiencing problems with both smell and taste, our charity’s name has only referred to one sense, which creates ambiguity and hinders immediate understanding of our mission. We felt that this is holding us back from making even greater progress. We are also working in difficult times for the charity sector, which increases the need to be distinctive and clear about what we do and why we’re doing it.

We also want to communicate more clearly that we are intent on transforming understanding of the vital role that smell and taste play in our lives. This is a crucial aspect of our mission for many reasons, not least because once people appreciate this, they can more easily recognise the impact of smell and taste impairment.
Along with the name change we also felt that our visual identity would benefit from a wholesale refresh to give us a much stronger, clearer presence.

How did you come up with the new brand?

The process took around six months, during which the team leading the rebrand conducted research and held discussions.

We began by holding focus groups with a range of key stakeholders including beneficiaries, some of the clinicians and scientists we work with, representatives of partner organisations and our advisory board.

These gave us valuable insights which helped us decide on our new name.  The participants also gave us ideas for our new colour palette and logo. They told us what they felt we should avoid too.

We constantly referred to feedback from the focus groups throughout the rebrand process. We also ensured the reasons to rebrand formed the basis of all decisions made; we needed to develop a clear, more relevant way to communicate the charity’s mission for a more significant impact.

Focus group participants told us that the new logo had to be simpler with fewer colours, have more impact, stand out against others in the sector, and not retain any parts or specific colours of the Fifth –Sense logo.

Several concept logos were shown to the rebrand team, the Fifth –Sense trustees and other team members. The designs were discussed over several weeks and amended until the final version was decided upon.

What is the story behind the new logo?

The final design incorporates:

• Two circles that represent smell and taste which are combined to show how they work together. The linked circles also represent the strength of the community we are continuing to build.
• The reference to the speech bubble is intended to convey a key aspect of ‘how’ we are transforming people’s understanding of smell, taste and these sensory impairments. Whether it is through creating opportunities for our beneficiaries to talk about their own experiences, or our work in speaking with clinicians, scientists, public, professionals and policymakers, starting and enabling conversations about the impact of smell and taste impairment and the rich contribution that both senses make to our lives is at the heart of what we do.
• The circle on the right is larger to help represent the ongoing process to amplify and grow our work, voice and reach.
• The words ‘support, education and research’ are included to clearly communicate our core areas of work.
• The colours for the new logo and brand colour palette have been chosen to be bold and convey warmth, energy and optimism, reflecting how we work with people.

We are really happy that the combination of design, colour scheme and name provides what we set out to achieve; a new identity that is bold, clear and distinctive. We were really pleased with the positive feedback on the final design from our focus group members, particularly from our beneficiaries who were involved. One of them said: “I think the new name and visual identity are brilliant. As someone who suffers from smell and taste loss, I’m very proud to be part of SmellTaste.”

How much did the rebrand cost?

After some initial conversations with branding agencies, we took the decision to undertake as much work as possible in-house to keep costs low, and also because we already had a good idea of what we wanted to achieve with the rebrand.

We worked with a freelancer who has been involved with our charity for over a year, and who has experience of charity re-brands, and the graphic and web design team we have been working with for over five years. They already had a strong understanding of smell and taste disorders and the charity’s mission, which meant we didn’t need to spend time or money on training them about our work.

The new brand will be rolled out over the course of 12 months, so costs and waste will be minimised as Fifth –Sense-branded information leaflets are used up and reordered with the new branding.

The final cost of the rebrand is expected to be below £5,000. To give you some context, we had a quote from one branding agency that was over £40,000.

Does the new brand mean a change in what the charity does?

No. The core areas of the charity’s work and the support we provide remain the same, but we hope that the re-brand will help make what we do much clearer, whilst supporting our growth and development. We believe that our new name and a more impactful visual identity will enhance our voice and create more opportunities for us to make a difference to the lives of people affected by smell and taste impairments.

I’m fundraising for SmellTaste, or I’ve left you a gift in my Will. Do I have to change it?

No action is needed at present. The legal name of the charity stays as Fifth –Sense, with SmellTaste becoming our new operating name. Our charity numbers and company name and number remains unchanged.

Who can I contact with any questions about the rebrand?

If you can’t find the answer to your question above, please email us at info@smelltaste.org.uk

Thanks to everyone involved

We would like to thank everyone involved in the rebrand, especially the SmellTaste members who shared their perspectives and helped us to decide on our new name, logo and colour scheme. 
We would also like to thank Andy Johnson and Jamie McCaffrey at Pair Creative, who created the new visual identity and website, and Vicky Kangurs for her support of the process, including running the focus groups.

SmellTaste is the operating name of Fifth –Sense, a registered charity in England and Wales No. 1175553 and in Scotland No. SC052952 and a Private Company Limited by Guarantee No. 10255303. Our registered address is at Unit 2, Franklins House, Wesley Lane, Bicester OX26 6JU.