When we talk about developing a brand for a client, so often this is understood to be a simple logo. We hear it a lot – “Why do we need to invest in branding, we’ve already got a logo?”
For us the work we do when we are developing brands in the education sector is so much more wide ranging. We dive into a Trust’s vision and purpose, we explore their history and their ambitions and we get to the heart of what makes them unique as an education provider. The brand we create will include logos in all the different versions you will need, but also a full colour palette and fonts bespoke to your organisation, examples of how these can be used and a full working guide for everyone in the Trust to follow.
It is undoubtedly an investment and should underpin all the marketing and communications activity in the Trust. But why do we think Trusts should be investing in something outside of the core teaching and learning activities? We believe that branding in education has several benefits.
Clarity of mission
A well-designed brand should clearly communicate the mission of the Trust. Whether the words are worked explicitly into the brand or the spirit is reflected in the shapes and the colours, your brand should be meaningful.
The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership brand communicates a bold and diverse community, acting as one. This is reflected in the sub brands we have created for the Learning Futures programme, Support Services and School Improvement.
Cohesiveness of the educational offer
By adopting a brand uniformly across all schools in the Trust, you can send a clear message about standards across all those schools. It should demonstrate that wherever pupils study, they will receive the same high standards of education and the same opportunities to thrive.
Some Trusts give schools a whole new logo when they join, others choose to add the Trust branding alongside existing school logos. We work with clients who take both approaches, and we can adapt branding for each scenario.
Includes all partners
When new schools join the Multi Academy Trust there is inevitably a period of transition. There may be some uncertainty for staff and parents as to how membership of the new Trust is going to impact and if it is going to minimise all the positive aspects of their school. Adopting a new school brand is a very inclusive process, helping new schools feel instantly part of the wider Trust and aligned to its mission. In some cases, applying the new brand can give parents the reassurance that their child’s school is joining a strong and successful partnership and help gain support for the changes that the Trust intends to make.
We have experience in supporting new schools as they join a MAT and start to adopt their new brand.
Delivers efficient working
In highly practical terms, a well-designed brand should help everyone across the Trust. Providing brand files and templates is a standard part of our work and ensures no-one is spending time creating new logos, newsletter layouts or printed items.
For Trusts without a dedicated marketing resource this process can be a lifeline, ensuring that teaching and support staff have all the help they need to use the brand. But where a small team is in place, they are also more productive, moving quickly to use the range of brand templates we provide for social media posts, web pages and collateral.
How can Cudos support you?
We have a selection of branding and marketing packages to support your MAT. From designing a whole new brand to communicate your vision to creating a comprehensive marketing strategy to reach your stakeholders or ongoing monthly support to deliver everything you want to achieve, we have substantial experience with education providers and we can help.
Get in touch and we would love to help you use branding to achieve your ambitions.