Is your school’s brand still positioned to provide distinction?

Here at mso, our approach to each of our website projects is focused on bringing out a client’s individuality.

This is why the initial planning stage of our website projects is so intrinsic to its success, as it gives us insight into who you are and provides us with the distinctions that truly set you apart from your competition.

Often, the first focus of these planning discussions are centred around your school’s brand – the combination of tangible and intangible elements that each contribute to creating your school’s unique identity.

We all know that a strong brand should be consistent and authentic to promote recognition and evoke a positive emotional response from stakeholders.

But rather importantly, your brand should also evolve alongside your school to continue to communicate your school’s value proposition, meet the expectations of your stakeholders and reinforce your ‘tone of voice’ and identity.

This is why regularly reviewing your brand ensures its relevance in the present day and is complementary to your school’s evolving needs and expectations.

If your school is approaching a brand refresh, we’ve got you covered, with this blog post offering insight on your approach and what needs to be considered to ensure long-term success and growth.

How to approach a brand refresh for your school

Approaching a brand refresh is a slightly different process from a complete rebrand.

Consider it not the act of going back to the drawing board, but more of a natural evolution, updating and modernising existing brand elements, whilst maintaining its core; your identity and values.

So where do you start?

Assess the Current Brand

• Brand Audit: Evaluate your current brand elements, such as your logos, colours, font, messaging and overall brand perception. Analyse what works well and what is in desperate need of improvement.
• Stakeholder Feedback: Gather insight from your school community. Students, Parents, Staff, Alumni and even the local community who will have a perception of your current brand. Understanding how your school is perceived will highlight if you have any challenges in how you are perceived.
• Retain Core Elements: What aspects of the current brand are essential and need to be retained? A school crest perhaps that communicates the rich heritage of the school, a motto / tagline or a specific colour from the brand palette.
• Ethos and Values: What are your core values, mission and vision of the school now? Have they changed, or are they as they were at the conception of the school. Ensure these are at the forefront of decisions surrounding the refresh and are consistent with who you are.

Define your Requirements

• What needs to change?: Determine which aspects of your school brand need refreshing. This could include your brand assets, such as your logo, colours etc, or it could be your overall messaging or public perception.
• Set your Goals: Create a roadmap for the refresh. You may wish to roll out new brand elements gradually and subtly, or take the approach to launch in support of a specific event or milestone.

Evolve your Visual Identity

• Logos: Logos could be made more versatile. Dated school crests for example could be modernised or streamlined. Just ensure you’re retaining recognisable elements so as to not lose your brand recognition.
• Colours and Typography: Colours can be refreshed without compromising your primary brand colours. A secondary palette could be introduced to lift existing colours. Similarly the introduction of an additional modern font to complement an existing traditional font can create a wonderful contrast of the old and the new.
• Visual Assets: New visual assets and graphics that align with your new identity will help to communicate your new brand to the masses. Whether that’s imagery, video, icons etc, these will work alongside your core brand materials to convey your brand’s tone of voice.

Engage Stakeholders

• Involve the School Community: Your school community is at the heart of your brand, as such they should be kept updated on the refresh process so that they feel included and valued. This also allows you to educate that community on the reasons behind the refresh and to get them on board and excited before the big reveal to the wider public.

For a brand refresh, the proof really is in the planning.

Without planning, you’re in danger of losing the essence and equity that your brand has built over time.

But that essence and equity is so much more than just a logo, your brand message is also vitally important.

So, what is a brand message and why should it be factored into your school’s brand refresh?

Put simply, your brand message is the voice of your brand.

It’s the message that is conveyed which highlights what makes your school different and involves a multi-faceted approach that works to highlight your unique qualities, values, and offering.

So why does your brand message need to be considered to ensure the success of your brand refresh?

Establishes Brand Identity

Your brand message truly defines who you are.

It communicates the core identity of your brand, including your ethos, vision and values.

It shows your audience what your school stands for and what makes it truly unique.

It also establishes a consistent message, which helps to create a coherent and recognisable brand image.

Differentiates from your Competitors

Effective brand messaging will highlight and emphasise what sets your school apart from your competitors.

Highlighting the school’s unique features and offerings such as; academic excellence, comprehensive STEM program, individualised learning or extensive extracurricular catalogue, will help you to position your school within the education space.

The Cavendish School Camden sits within an area highly saturated with independent schools, so it’s important to differentiate them from their many competitors.

The kaleidoscopic elements of their brand do just that, whilst also symbolistic of the vibrancy and diversity of their school community and the school’s home in Camden.

Builds Credibility and Trust

A clear and cohesive message across channels will reinforce your school brand’s reliability, promoting credibility and trust.

Additionally authentic and honest messaging helps your school to maintain transparency and define realistic expectations with your audience.

Generates an Emotional Response

A brand that aims to build an emotional connection will resonate with its audience.

Well-crafted messaging and subtext for imagery and rich media can generate an emotive response that fosters loyalty and long-term relationships with your users.

For example, if you land on a school website to see an image of children glowing with happiness at school, as a parent you could aspire for your child to be that happy in their chosen education setting.

It’s the unwritten narrative and storytelling that will make it relatable and engaging for your audience.

Malvern College is a fantastic example of the aspirational, evoking the emotion of their users by complementing their narrative, ‘Tomorrow’s role models, shaped today’.

Using video as a storytelling tool, Malvern uses lines complementary to their wider branding that plot over images of their students, showcasing the individuality in the journeys of each.

Influences Perception and Behavior

Ultimately, your messaging shapes how people see your brand.

Positive, well-crafted messages can enhance your brand image and reputation.

Guides Marketing and Communication Strategies

Clear messaging ensures that all communications, whether on social media channels, online and offline advertisements or face-to-face interactions are consistent and aligned with your brand’s tone of voice.

It can also provide a foundation for your marketing and communication efforts going forwards, ensuring that all collateral is aligned with the overarching brand strategy.

St Albans High School for Girls (STAHS) have a powerful, confident brand.

With a focus on the ‘narrative’, with unique fonts that distinguish each of the school’s divisions; Prep, Senior and Sixth, the vibrant yellow contrasted with the navy of the school’s brand palette, translates seamlessly across their marketing collateral, whether on or offline.

Our takeaways

A successful brand refresh for your school involves a meticulous process of planning, assessment, and evolution.

By focusing on retaining core brand elements, incorporating stakeholder feedback, and evolving your visual identity, you can ensure that your brand remains relevant and impactful, maintaining a vibrant and authentic presence in the education space.

And whilst this can seem like a daunting task, having a brand that truly aligns itself with your school, its goals and aspirations for the future is integral for the future growth, longevity and long-term success of your school.

If you’d like some advice on how to evolve your brand, or refresh your school website and its digital presence, get in touch with carly.magnavacca@mso.net.