“Building a better future… one story at a time.” In bold, large, sans-serif font, these are the first words that are displayed on the University of Waterloo’s current positioning guide. The guide speaks of what the University of Waterloo stands for in the scope of the world, and how the story of each student, current or prior, each member of faculty, and each contributer to the institution builds it up to what it is. It talks about the university’s roots, and how it has risen from something small to be a place of creativity, innovation, and unconventionality.
Recent discussions with Vice-President of External Relations Meg Beckel have yielded insight into the present rebranding process. “A majority agreed that a change is needed for the University of Waterloo brand expression and a simple strong wordmark would meet the needs (a majority, although not all),” mentions Beckel. Of course, she is right. This guide had been a long time coming.
The University
UW’s current reputation falls under a strange category, in that it projects the image of a much older institution while attempting to be technologically oriented and cutting-edge. While the UW is well-known in the technological industry and the scientific community, Waterloo’s reputation outside of Ontario is not especially apparent. The institution has neither the age nor its benefits to market itself beyond the borders of the province; to distinguish itself from older, more revered places of learning such as UofT and McGill, it needs marketing to reflect what it is.
Suspicions about UW’s reputation were validated by a cross-country reputational survey conducted by public-opinion firm Ipsos-Reid [2008]. Aware of this, the administration included the need to create a baseline awareness of the university’s strengths in their Sixth Decade Plan. The strategy began with proposed modifications to Waterloo’s visual identity. The new design was to be modern and fresh in alignment with the university’s youth, “with the bold gotham font, the simple wordmark system, the striking use of colour to differentiate the faculties and professional schools and the use of line work as a design element”.
The Fiasco
Designing the identity of any large institution is a difficult and delicate task. The identity of the school is a reflection of the students, and so the design process is required to consider all the demographics that constitute the student body. The difficulty lies in pleasing all these individual groups, though it is well known that whenever a large project such as an image-redesign is implemented, not everyone will be content; some initial confusion and disapproval always accompanies change. Unfortunately, the premature release of the newly proposed logo in mid 2009 garnered extreme bad press after the dissent of the students came to light.
The source of the distaste was quickly made known to the design committee. Sarcastically dubbed the “WaterPEW” logo due to the “laser-like” lines running through it, there was much focus on the image itself rather than on the positioning framework accompanying the new branding. Meg Beckel has stated, “The lines in the W created the majority of the negative reaction. We heard that message from people who spoke to us, sent emails, or messaged us on Facebook.” The general sentiment among the students was that it came across as amateurish in appearance, or something to be used in the advertising of a strip club. Protester numbers ran into the thousands, as indicated by the student-run Facebook group that was created to voice student and alumni displeasure.
Much of anger surrounding the changing of the logo was due to the lack of context. All the initial designs were leaked while they were in the process of being reviewed; since the logos were not paired with any of the other branding elements- banners, stationary, or explanation- many were baffled by what they perceived to be an attempt by UW to make the university seem more attractive to students of lower caliber. Many of these students were also unaware that the majority of the re-branding was purely to be used for marketing purposes, and would not be reflected by any official documents. These issues were addressed by a memo jointly written by Beckel and President David Johnston on July 16, 2009, a mere three days after the leak, but the damage had been done. (http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2009/jul/16th.html)
The Changes
Lessons were learned from the backlash, and the feedback was taken into account. With revision #2 of the branding, the major change has been the withdrawal of the previously proposed logo: the bold W with solid lines of colour running through it. The actual direction taken by the branding has not diverged. “The positioning framework remains unchanged from the fall 2008 approved and communicated version,” says Beckel. “It was well received, recognizing that the vision, values, attributes, promise and positioning statement were all intended to represent current reality and aspirations. Our real focus is telling our story to position Waterloo as the university operating at the frontier of innovation in learning, discovery, collaboration and experience. We have so many great stories that demonstrate how our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners are full participants in building a better future … every day. ”
Reception of the new branding as a whole has been shaky but Beckel is optimistic, putting it down to misunderstanding of what the brand is. “I hope our students feel that our verbal and visual expression of our brand is fresh and bold. Many students thought our brand was simply our logo. That is not the case. Our logo, our symbol, our wordmark is simply one element of our story. I hope our students understand that our brand is more than a wordmark or logo; it is who we are, why we exist, how we operate and where we exist in the university sphere. It is one way we visually express the why, who, how and what that is Waterloo. All those elements make up our brand.”
Beckel emphasizes “Our brand has not changed … we are simply telling our story verbally and visually in a more compelling and consistent manner. We have to be better at telling our story to a global community outside Waterloo Region so that we attract the very best students, faculty members, donors and partners who want to be part of our future. We especially need to attract the right partners and donors so that we can continue with our unconventional approach to innovation and creativity.”
The infamous W can still be seen on campus here and there, on old stationary and on signs, and debate on the logo itself still continues. Beckel has indicated that the suggestion to host a design contest, where anyone would be able to submit their patterns under specific guidelines, has been discussed. She stressed, however, that until all core elements of the new brand have been rolled out, the university will continue to use the [abstract] W as a secondary symbol, as it has been for many years.
She closes with, “I hope our students start to see, hear and participate in telling the Waterloo story. Our stories are our most effective marketing tool and we need our students to be both part of the story and the storytellers.” In a manner that is almost self-fulfilling, this story will be interwoven with those of the university’s participants for as long as the University of Waterloo continues to be.
Special thank you to Meg Beckel, Vice-President of External Relations
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