Activating Birmingham’s global ambition.

Activating Birmingham's ambition to infiltrate the global top 50.

University of Birmingham needed to elevate their brand and global reputation as a key driver of their ambition to be a global top 50 university. They recognised their brand and communications had lost a sense of direction, having multiple sub-brands, typefaces and colour palettes in play.

With no core proposition and design system to tie it all together, the brand was no longer a genuine reflection of the scale of their impact or their people, purpose and values. We were chosen to deliver an institutional wide brand project encompassing brand proposition and visual identity across every strategic department of the university.

Since 2023, we have worked as a strategic brand partner, connecting a new bold positioning, brand identity and design system across every touchpoint of the university. Informed by our extensive stakeholder engagement and knowledge gathering process, we developed a distinctive and authentic proposition that focused on Birmingham's active, purpose driven ethos.

Backed by robust testing and feedback, we created a bold brand positioning of 'activate with intent' and a flexible and highly creative design system fit for a global powerhouse. Our work with Birmingham extends across every core area of the university, developing individual department strategies and connecting the proposition and styling through brand experience, creative content and campaigns.

To introduce the new brand philosophy, we created an emotive and highly relatable Open Day film that brought Birmingham's purpose-driven spirit to life. Using dynamic, peer-led storytelling, we crafted a narrative that reflected the real student experience and built an immediate emotional connection with prospective applicants.