The London agency has repositioned the Scouts programme for 14–18-year-olds around a blunt new proposition: ‘Grow up’, with a compass-led marque, bold supergraphics, and 40 fresh badges.
When Explorer Scouts launched in 2002, most families shared a single home computer, if they had one at all, and social media didn’t even exist. More than two decades on, the world has changed, and the brand built for teenagers was starting to show its age.
So Scouts brought in London agency Red Stone to reposition Explorer Scouts, the programme for 14–18-year-olds, and to build it a new identity: one that feels more relevant, inclusive, and authentic to a generation of brand-savvy digital natives who can spot a sales pitch a mile off.
It comes as new research suggests many young people feel less prepared for adult life, with teachers flagging worries about confidence, communication, and readiness for work. Alongside the rebrand, Scouts has refreshed the Explorers programme itself, co-designed with young people, to combine practical skills with creativity, leadership, and adventure.
This isn’t school
At the heart of the work is a deliberately un-slick proposition: ‘Grow up’. It’s built on the insight that teenagers are exhausted by the constant pressure of expectation, at school and in life, leaving little room for curiosity or growth.
Rather than overpromising, the new positioning frames Explorers as a place where the journey matters as much as the destination – somewhere anyone can belong, but nobody has to fit the mould. A straight-talking brand personality, “Real curious”, carries it through.
The identity puts young people front and centre. A new marque inspired by the compass gives Explorers a strong visual shorthand built around the idea of the journey, and a set of bold supergraphics extends out from it, subtly nodding to the iconic Explorer necker. Photography keeps things real rather than staged, capturing the friendship, energy, and randomness of being part of a club.
Room for the individual
Although consistency mattered, Red Stone also built the brand so every unit and every Explorer can make it their own: a simple logo system and templated comms let each club create personalised materials that still feel on-brand, while a series of “logo expressions” loosens things up for merch. The agency also illustrated 40 badges to match the revamped programme – bold, accessible, and designed to add a pop of colour to every uniform.
“Red Stone has helped set a new direction for Explorers Scouts to meet the needs of Generation Alpha, balancing real-world skills and adventure with a powerful sense of belonging,” says Chris James, brand and content lead at Scouts. “The brand feels fresh, equally at home on screen and in print. It’s inspired by the outdoors, shaped by young people and truly captures the fun, friendship and freedom, pointing to brighter futures.”
For Red Stone, the brief was about challenging assumptions. “Positioning Explorers as an antidote to the intense, always-on nature of life for teenagers today, we wanted to build a brand that embraced individuality, curiosity and most importantly, fun,” says Rich Corr, associate creative strategy director at Red Stone. “From the strategy through to the graphic assets, the brand is welcoming, eclectic, and just a little bit irreverent.”
The new look rolls out as Explorers gears up to relaunch and reach more young people than ever across the UK.
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