Our Brand Story
We are a university steeped in history and heritage, yet laser-focused on the role we play as a future-minded place of learning and research. Our combination of insight and pragmatism gives us a unique ability to bring people together to make important things happen. Across our UK and Dubai campuses, we create pathways of discovery and intellectual growth for our students, equipping them with the same down-to-earth determination to address the most pressing challenges of the modern world. As an agile testbed of innovation, our collaborative academic community is undaunted by challenge or difficult questions – a trait inherent to our university and the progressive city that founded us. From this informed perspective, we are able to understand both our place in the world and the needs of the world so that we can purposefully focus our expertise to create transformative impact for the betterment of society. We advance. We activate. We are University of Birmingham.
Building a strong brand identity that is aligned to our ambitions
To help us achieve the strategic priorities outlined in our 2030 Strategic Framework, we must continue to build our global reputation with a clear, compelling, and consistent identity. More than a logo or colour palette, our identity is about our people, our purpose and values and the impact of the work we do.
An identity that is authentic to Birmingham
Over 1000 staff and students from across our UK, Dubai and global offices, together with external stakeholders helped to shape our identity that is built around four core themes. Underpinned by our values, these themes lay the foundation of our brand personality, from which has our brand positioning and philosophy has been created.
Strategic Brand Framework
Four Core Brand Themes have been developed which lay the foundation of our Brand Personality and are underpinned by our Brand Values, all of which culminate in our Brand Philosophy.
Theme: Trusted Convener
We are open to all, we build meaningful relationships, discover new opportunities and will work with non-traditional partners to make important things happen.
Theme: Civic/Force For Good
We engage our culture and power to effect positive change locally and globally and put inclusivity and diversity at the heart of our brand.
Theme: Determined Leader
We are a catalyst for impact; we create collective pathways for change.
Theme: Living Lab for the Future
We are an agile testbed of innovation and a source of knowledge that informs and creates change.
Brand Personality
Driven by our civic heritage, we are down-to-earth, natural collaborators
with an informed, practical mindset.
Brand Values
Open / Ambitious / Responsible / Collaborative / Innovative
Our Brand Philosophy – the overarching ethos at the heart of our identity
Together, our core brand themes, personality and values helped establish our brand philosophy ‘Activate with intent’. This is not a headline or a strapline. Instead, this is what drives our creative decision-making. From tone of voice to imagery choices, every visual element should capture the essence of what it means to activate with intent. You can read more about how our brand philosophy drives a distinct tone of voice for our language and messaging, including our ‘We activate’ sign-off by visiting the ‘Brand Essentials’ page.
Our Visual Identity
In ‘Brand Essentials’ you can learn more about our dynamic brand system that had been developed as a visual expression of our brand positioning, with built-in flexibility to enable all component parts of the university to use to ensure we authentically represent who we are in a consistent and compelling way.
‘We activate’ sign-off
A powerful expression of our brand philosophy is our ‘We activate’ sign-off. This is a two-sentence, open-sourced sign-off line that is used as part of the call-to-action across our communications.