Frequently asked questions

The implementation of a new brand for St George’s represents the culmination of three years' work to strengthen the University’s identity and reputation.

St George's is operating in an increasingly competitive market, with growing competition from both home and overseas institutions. Success in the future depends on the University having a clear and distinctive market position and a strong brand identity that connects with future prospective students and stakeholders. 

Brand perception research with our key audiences in late 2018 indicated that St George’s is less well known than its London-based competitors. A refreshed brand will help St George’s be distinctive and clear in our messaging and presentation. 

• New visual identity guidelines including use of logo, colour palette, font, photography style, signage guidelines, space design etc.

• New positioning statement underpinned by Corporate Plan mission and vision.

• New stratified messaging framework with agreed statements at University and course level.

• Ongoing brand management and governance policy.

• Brand implementation plan from 2020/21.

Two groups have been established to govern and manage the project. 

1. The Project Steering Group makes key milestone decisions, ensures the project is being run effectively, and monitors risks and issues. The Steering Group is chaired by our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jenny Higham, and includes a member of Council and student member in addition to members of the senior leadership team.
   This group has provided updates to Executive Committee and Council at key points in the project.
2. The Project Delivery Team operationally manages the project implementation, consultation and communication. The project delivery team is chaired by Naz Hussain, Associate Director for Marketing and Student Recruitment.

A brand is the set of perceptions people have about an organisation or product. It allows someone to make a quick and efficient judgment call about something. It enables them to decide whether that thing is something they wish to spend their time on and engage with. 

As a University operating in an increasingly competitive market, branding is a crucial tool in our efforts to try to reach out to our audience, to tell them who we are in the blink of an eye, to gain their trust and engagement and, over time, to tell our story and our vision to them.

Research undertaken in 2018 showed St George’s has low brand awareness amongst our key audiences. A recognisable identity and strong reputation are vital in supporting growth in both education and research.

Research has shown that our current visual identity is not easily recognisable or memorable. 

Our current logo doesn’t stand-out or showcase the dynamic range of work and teaching that takes place at the University. The current blue colour palette is similar to that used by the NHS, making it difficult for the University to have a distinct identity on the hospital site we share with the Trust. 

The current logo doesn’t work well when used at small scales across digital platforms like social media. This means it fails key accessibility requirements. Users are also unable to identify the horse and knight as St George when used without the accompanying text, which inhibits our ability to develop the current logo in a responsive way for web. The new logo’s “G” helps tie the graphics to our name in a more memorable way. 

Focus groups have demonstrated that our new logo and visual identity more accurately reflect our specialist, friendly and forward-looking nature, in a more recognisable way.

During 2019, we conducted a range of surveys, focus groups and mass participation meetings as part of the project’s community consultation process. 

We received:

• 686 survey responses from students
• 425 survey responses from staff
• 73 survey responses from alumni

We held:

• 3 workshops with students
• 3 focus groups with students
• 3 workshops with staff
• 2 open invite mass presentation sessions

While much of the project has been undertaken by the in-house team in External Relations, Communications and Marketing, external expertise was brought in to ensure independent research was undertaken and to create a new messaging and visual identity framework. 

Spencer du Bois have been appointed as our creative partner for this project. Spencer du Bois have significant experience working with education institutions such as Hull York Medical School, Imperial Business School and charity sector organisations such as the Samaritans to improve their messaging and visual identity.

The project team has worked hard to ensure an efficient and cost-effective project and, where possible, project research and implementation has been funded from existing operational budgets by reducing or delaying expenditure elsewhere. 

£50,000 was funded from the Principal’s Investment Fund during the academic year 18/19 to bring in external expertise to support the research and development of a new overarching positioning and visual identity for the University. 

This project spend can be broken down as follows:

• £22,000 on the research and consultation phase
• £18,000 on the messaging and visual identity development
• £10,000 on developing extensive brand manual / guidelines

Implementation and roll out will be a gradual process so we can be as cost efficient as possible, with materials updated with the new visual identity as part of their usual, budgeted cycle of update and revision. Updates to website and other digital templates have been budgeted for and are largely being managed in-house.

The project was funded in academic year 18/19 when the research and development work was undertaken. 

A core principle of implementation planning for the project team is to ensure cost efficiency. Ongoing operational costs have largely been subsumed into departmental budgets and roll out will be a gradual process with material refreshed as part of the usual annual cycle.

St George’s does not have a historic crest or coat of arms that can be used in a visual identity. 

While other London institutions do have crests as part of their visual identity, they tend to be very rarely used and purely for ceremonial occasions with the majority of their materials using a much more contemporary look.  

The current visual identity will be phased out as the new identity and assets are introduced. Therefore, there may be a short period of time where both the old and new identities are in use due to our phased implementation plan. For example, the current visual identity may appear on student recruitment materials which are created for a full 18-month cycle but will be brought in-line with the new identity at the earliest opportunity. The website and materials developed by the Design and Digital team will be using the new visual identity from launch. 

We will be involving the community in our implementation planning and will create templates and other resources to help you use the new visual identity.

It is important that we have one overarching brand for the University. Having multiple individual brands across the University will lead to a dilution of the overarching identity and potential confusion among our audiences. Your work is an important part of the University’s voice and identity so should be shown with the primary University logo. This enables us to project a consistent, professional image at all times. 

The Design Team are ready to help make your work stand out, but it is important to ensure that it is instantly recognisable as part of St George’s. The new visual identity is designed to be flexible and expressive, therefore the Team can help give your work a distinct feel without it deviating from the primary brand.

Any questions about the project can be emailed to the marketing team.