The Abbey has a rich history and a strong future, guided by a community of inspired and conscious people.

The natural environment in which The Abbey is located is unique, sought-after and a special place for individuals to discover their connection with their inner spirituality, the environment, the broader community and God.

^{Lake Victoria sunset views from The Abbey beach. Image credit: Kelly Asmus-Albornoz.}

The Abbey is more than just a conference and accommodation centre – it is a place where all are welcome, where creation tells its story and where there is space and support to stop and reflect.

The Abbey is a place that embraces people with hope, possibility, worth and love. In turn, the contribution people make is returned through a sense of belonging and value after their time spent at The Abbey. 

People come to The Abbey for a variety of reasons:

• To hire the units and facilities for individuals and groups

• To attend the Program of Workshops, events and retreats

• To volunteer in caring for the work of The Abbey and to conserve the environment

• To pray or seek spiritual solace

^{The Abbey A-Frame. Image credit: Kelly Asmus-Albornoz.}

The Abbey is a place where people who make a contribution know that they and their work is of value and is valued.

Volunteers, staff, Friends of The Abbey, Department of Justice offenders undertaking community service, Noweyung participants come and contribute for different reasons. The genuine relationships that build from this genuine ‘service’ gives hope to all.

The ‘business’ of The Abbey Conference and Accommodation Centre sits within and supports the wider framework of The Abbey as a place of hospitality, spirituality and the environment.

Each of the elements – hospitality, spirituality and conservation/care of the environment is still developing, as is the enterprise as a whole. 

My brand strategy, communications planning, graphic and web design services were engaged in 2016.

^{The Chapel. Image credit: Kelly Asmus-Albornoz.}

The Abbey has historical connections to three separate identities resulting in a confused brand message and identity. 

What’s more, with a website design that was non-responsive and non-compliant with W3C standards for accessibility, The Abbey’s digital presence did not serve the organisation’s future potential and vision. 

The Abbey’s website design needs to offer potential guests and friends an insight into the story behind the organisation and showcase the new motel units. The Abbey’s unique brand proposition needs to be discovered, inspiring guests to visit Raymond Island for inclusive hospitality, spirituality and environmental experiences.

Project goals

• Develop a brand narrative

• Refresh The Abbey’s visual identity, including a new website and photography

• Upskill The Abbey employees to manage the website, booking system and social media platforms in line with the communications plan

• Promote The Abbey via tourism websites & social media to increase occupancy rates

Project success measures

• Increased social media following and engagement

• Increased traffic to the website

• Increased email newsletter signups

• Increased occupancy for the Accommodation and Conference Centre

Project challenges

Develop a brand narrative

The real challenge is how to ‘sell’ The Abbey – the words to use and where to promote the Accommodation & Conference Centre as part of The Abbey in a way that attracts those who would enjoy staying here. This was overcome by engaging my services to develop a distinctive brand narrative.

Refresh The Abbey’s visual identity, including a new website

Developing a modern, attractive visual identity is central to the project, along with the development of an online presence for the full range of activity of The Abbey. The challenge is time. Therefore the project is broken into two parts, with stage two of the website encompassing the integration of a booking system for the Accommodation & Conference Centre. The end result is bookings and the website to be managed by The Abbey. 

Promote The Abbey via tourism websites & social media

Attracting ideal customers and increasing the occupancy rate in the units and west cottage accommodation, as well as use of The A-Frame and Illawarra, is also central to the project. This will be achieved by listing The Abbey on tourism websites, and actively promoting through content marketing (blog on The Abbey website) and social media.

This challenge was overcome as soon as the website was redeveloped, and integrated with the booking platforms. Off-season was booked out, and The Abbey’s accommodation services flourished.

End result

A simple combined mark referencing the iconic A-Frame at The Abbey and colours of spirituality (purple), hospitality (red) and environment (green).

Moodboard

The visual identity, website user experience and photography references the East Gippsland environment, writer Tim Winton, conservationist Tim Flannery and author Calvin Dewitt.

Visual identity and website

Stage 1 of the website design is a responsive, full width WordPress site with parallax scroll headers and Mailchimp integration. The photography of the pristine natural environment at The Abbey is the hero, along with the modern, uncluttered design. I engaged the services of Kelly Asmus-Albornoz, of Albatross Photography, to capture the essence of The Abbey.

Stage 2 encompassed online booking using a channel manager and blog integration.