University of Portsmouth: Branding complex organisations

I'm a brand specialist and have created or developed brands across many sectors. This project is a good example of where I've led a full branding process.

The University of Portsmouth (UoP) created a five-year strategy to 2020, reflecting its ambitious growth plans and its growing reputation. Rising steadily through the league tables, it had struggled to build a positive public profile locally, nationally and internationally that reflected its successes. One of its key strategic priorities was to create a brand positioning and visual identity that reflected UoP’s true position as a modern, dynamic and forward-thinking university with a growing reputation and a strong ethos, that could both enable and survive expansion into new products (courses), services (e.g. commercial) and markets (e.g. Asia).

Traditional, linear branding and creative strategies don’t stack-up for universities. You must engage their constituencies in a forensic process of discovery, insight, co-creation, testing and validation. I directed the strategy and creative on this one, leading a team of consultants and designers, and also working with the talented UoP team. If you scroll down, you can see the engagement stats – I was fully involved, hands-on at every stage of the process.

This brand was recently highly commended at the Transform European Branding Awards, has been welcomed by the UoP community and is being enthusiastically rolled-out by the university.