Your brand has seven seconds to make an impact. Engaging in a highly interactive branding process helps communications professionals share effective messaging and stories, as well as determine what stakeholders want from schools and businesses.
So what makes a good brand?
• Versatility
• Accessible color palette
• A logo that represents your community
• Elements that are creative, effective and lasting
• Flexibility – easy to use
• Tone of voice
• Consistency in fonts
"We love our brand. Your branding work with us and the process for gathering information made sense. People across the board felt heard – from staff to students to board members. Your process was a really nice way to engage and deliver to education. Everything about how we want our kids to learn, your team did an excellent job with us"
The first step in our branding process is all about discovery. We are going to dig into data to find the strengths of your organization. We hold listening and engagement sessions to discover opportunities and momentum for the future.
We love engaging your leaders, your staff, your families and your students in storytelling about your district. When we uncover the heart, the personality, and the hopes and dreams your stakeholders have for your community, it really becomes a change management process. It might even lay the foundation for a future strategic plan.
For schools, branding is a community engagement and change management process.
Let’s think about positioning. Positioning is the intersection of what you want people to say about you and the stories your stakeholders will actually share. What is distinctive about your organization? How does that come forward in your brand assets?
Brand assets go beyond your logo. Brand assets include your brand voice, tone and messaging. Assets include graphics and images that support the values and personality of your community. We identify your key message pillars that will shape your editorial calendar.
A brand provides a consistent look, feel and voice that supports the goals of the organization. For many districts, each school has a different mascot and colors. Our branding process brings existing mascots under the umbrella of a district brand.
If you want to be an innovative, welcoming and inclusive school district, does your brand advance your goals?
At CEL Marketing PR Design, we use a process called MissionIgnition™ to engage your stakeholders in updating your brand. We think about a brand beyond the logo. We will help you uncover your brand promises and create a consistent voice that transcends the stories you tell.
Our MissionIgnition process helped Richfield Public Schools update its brand to reflect its real community, personalized learning, rich opportunities, and innovation in action. This NSPRA Award-winning campaign was featured at NSPRA Live2020.
Download our Brand Checklist, and give us a call if you’d like support implementing your brand process!
When people think about rebranding, it can sound like an overwhelming and impossible task to achieve. But what we like to tell people is that you don’t have to do an entire overhaul to update your branding. Sometimes when stakeholders are very close to the branding and the logo, it can be difficult or emotional to suggest a change. In cases like Robbinsdale Area Schools, which is an award-winning project, all that was really needed to see the impact of a refresh was an expansion of the existing brand elements.
Published on: July 14, 2020
