CASE STUDY
Endometriosis WA
A writer with lived experience gave this brand story its potency.
BRAND STORY / STRATEGY
Endometriosis WA desperately needed a new brand. The visual identity was yellow—which among other problems was the same as the national brand, and the written brand had fallen victim to an academic, cold, and overly polished voice.
When the new visual brand started coming together in bold shades of magenta, complete with a period-soaked pad as part of the reference guide, the words clearly needed to level up… and they had a lot to cover. The origin story was important, the locality, and an injection of the raw, emotional reality of living with the disease.
The brief was simple with three goals driving the process: To tell the unique story of Endo WA, differentiating the organisation from Endometriosis Australia. To have a clear brand story that aligns with the new visual brand. And to infuse a brand persona and brand tone into the way that Endometriosis WA communicates.
The insights: where social meets data
Through a strategic approach, the audience insights showed that women living with endo shared a lot of similar experiences—stories that became strong connecting agents: the medical gaslighting, the invisible symptoms, the isolation, the fertility issues; they even used similar language to describe their pain. And the most powerful voices in the endometriosis space came from those living with it, rather than the NFPs, government bodies, or medical organisations.
The brand story is published below.
As you can see, there’s a rhythm to the syntax, slower at the beginning and then gaining pace as the story moves into change and action. Poetic prose is welcome: “Wishing you were made of fabric rather than flesh”. Intimacy is written into the story with the use of second person narrative mode.
Metaphor brings in pop culture and personification adds impact: “The endless scroll of fatigue that takes your motivation and gives you back another day on the couch”.
The execution: lived experience matters
Firstly, the writer has lived experience, and it couldn’t be executed any other way. The closeness and emotion written into the copy (below) is very real. The tone of voice used is a balance between warm, relatable, and supportive, with the dependability and knowledge that readers need to engage.
Credits:
Writer: Clare Reid
Brand designer: Leigh Wood
Project director: Emma Lambet
For each person living with endo, there’s a story. Some chapters feel undeniably shared—and there’s true comfort in that. But some passages are just yours, experiences with endo that make you feel utterly alone.
Most of these happen before a diagnosis—in those times when the pain is so severe you can’t believe this is a ‘normal’ cycle. Even when they say it is.
The times when you can’t walk straight. Or think straight in the darkness of another migraine.
The endless scroll of fatigue that takes your motivation and gives you back another day on the couch, wishing you were made of fabric rather than flesh.
For you, it might be one of the sister’s of endo, like adenomyosis or PCOS. But the commonalities and shared stories are what bring us together—which is exactly how Endometriosis WA began.
A Facebook group became a volunteer-driven not-for-profit organisation that has now opened the only bio-bank in Australia for endometriotic tissue.
Because here, we’re also writing the story of change. Advocacy aimed at unraveling the gaslighting, medicine focused on localised care, research that will lead to better diagnostic tools and treatments.
Our story is here in WA, with you, those who have endo (or her sisters) and your support people.