NCUK

The world is waiting

How we worked with NCUK to help refresh their brand, develop their new logo and clearly communicate their brand story and offer to international students.

Brief

Delivered at more than 110 study centres in 40 countries worldwide, NCUK’s pathway programmes prepare students to study at their 60+ partner universities across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and North America. To enable them to achieve their ambitious five-year strategy, they asked us to collaborate with them on a major brand refresh. Together we aimed to clearly define and articulate their offer and help them attract even more students and education partners. We set out to raise their global profile, make NCUK stand out in the market and inspire more students to start exciting international study adventures.

Highly skilled at taking on complex brand challenges, we’ve developed a successful method to simplify the process and make it as collaborative as possible. This quickly deepens our understanding and provides a structured roadmap for the development of standout brands.

We kickstarted everything with a brilliant workshop with Future Index and the NCUK marketing team at our home in MediaCity. As well as sharing insight and inspiration, we brainstormed ideas, got to the heart of their proposition and learned about different audiences and their motivations. We talked about the big picture and small details, so we could fully understand the NCUK offer and opportunities. Taking all this information on-board, we then developed the four drivers that sit at the heart of NCUK’s brand story and strategy. Once we got the thumbs-up from the NCUK team, we set about revitalising every aspect of their brand.

We created powerful messaging, a more engaging Tone of Voice and the aspirational strapline ‘The world is waiting for you’. We also made the logo bolder and changed the descriptor underneath from ‘University Consortium’ to ‘University Pathways’. It sounds a simple creative solution. But clearly communicating NCUK’s offer has made a massive difference. We also designed a bold new design style with distinct graphics to reflect infinite student journeys. And then engaged with NCUK students and partners to test our creative thinking and get their input.

The next step was to align their B2B marketing with the new brand style for study centres and university partners. Then to help launch the brand, we worked together on a new hero video that mixes UGC, NCUK and stock footage to avoid expensive international travel. Finally, we created a comprehensive Brand Book, so NCUK can continue to create their own content and roll their exciting new brand out over the next few years.

Highly skilled at taking on complex brand challenges, we’ve developed a successful method to simplify the process and make it as collaborative as possible. This quickly deepens our understanding and provides a structured roadmap for the development of standout brands.

We kickstarted everything with a brilliant workshop with Future Index and the NCUK marketing team at our home in MediaCity. As well as sharing insight and inspiration, we brainstormed ideas, got to the heart of their proposition and learned about different audiences and their motivations. We talked about the big picture and small details, so we could fully understand the NCUK offer and opportunities. Taking all this information on-board, we then developed the four drivers that sit at the heart of NCUK’s brand story and strategy. Once we got the thumbs-up from the NCUK team, we set about revitalising every aspect of their brand.

We created powerful messaging, a more engaging Tone of Voice and the aspirational strapline ‘The world is waiting for you’. We also made the logo bolder and changed the descriptor underneath from ‘University Consortium’ to ‘University Pathways’. It sounds a simple creative solution. But clearly communicating NCUK’s offer has made a massive difference. We also designed a bold new design style with distinct graphics to reflect infinite student journeys. And then engaged with NCUK students and partners to test our creative thinking and get their input.

The next step was to align their B2B marketing with the new brand style for study centres and university partners. Then to help launch the brand, we worked together on a new hero video that mixes UGC, NCUK and stock footage to avoid expensive international travel. Finally, we created a comprehensive Brand Book, so NCUK can continue to create their own content and roll their exciting new brand out over the next few years.

“Working with Waterfall to refresh NCUK’s brand has been a fantastic experience. Their collaborative approach and clear strategy helped us simplify and clarify our brand while maintaining its depth and purpose. We are delighted with our new identity. Our bolder logo, updated descriptor, and fresh design style have made it so much easier to share who we are with international students and partners around the world.” – Ben Cunliffe, Head of Brand & Marketing