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TO
Madeleine Setchell, Director of Communications, Marketing and
Engagement
COPY TO
Simon Healey, Director of Strategic projects
Simon Johnson, General Counsel
FROM
Professor Grant Guilford, Vice-Chancellor
DATE
13 March 2018
SUBJECT
Brand 2018 – Project Scope and Focus
Thank you for your memo of 1 March seeking clarification of the scope and areas of focus
for the ‘Brand 2018’ project. As requested, please note the following clarifications,
viewpoints and decisions.
Primary goals of the Brand 2018 project
The three primary goals of the Brand 2018 project are to:
Better align the University’s name/brand with our positioning as New Zealand’s globally
ranked capital city university and with our global-civic university vision
Increase the clarity and distinctiveness of our name/brand internationally – an essential
step in increasing global brand awareness
The principal downstream benefits expected from achieving these goals are enhanced
international academic reputation, greater global research impact, improved international
rankings, increased recruitment of international students, and improved ability to partner with
leading international universities. Accordingly, the brand project supports Primary Strategies
1, 2, 5, and 6 and Enabling Strategies 1-5.
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Scope of the Brand 2018 project
The broad areas of focus for the Brand 2018 project are:
Simplification of the University’s name
Reconsideration of selected elements of the University’s logo and style guide
Consultation and market research on the preferred option(s)
Considering the impact of the simplified name on sub-brands
Advice on legal aspects of simplifying the name
Promoting the University’s preferred name/brand
The Brand 2018 project’s scope does
not extend to:
Changes to the University’s positioning or brand expression
The activities and projects we undertake to bring to life our institutional distinctiveness
e.g. academic distinctiveness themes, Te Reo, MOOCs etc.
The Know Your Mind Campaign –
Components of the Brand 2018 Project
The individual components included in the scope of the Brand 2018 project are outlined in
more detail below.
Simplification of the University’s Name
There is now good evidence that simplifying the current name of ‘Victoria University of
Wellington’ to the ‘University of Wellington’ will meet the primary project goals listed above.
Specifically, the name ‘University of Wellington’ aligns effortlessly with New Zealand’s capital
city whereas ‘Victoria University’ does not. Similarly, civic universities (including global-civic
universities) are first and foremost about their city and are prepared to tie their fortunes to
those of their city. Wellington is our city – not Victoria. The University’s low international
brand awareness is not in keeping with its very high academic standards. Strong evidence
has been gathered that suggests at least some of this international reputation vacuum is due
to the lack of clarity and distinctiveness associated with our name.
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Given the market research done to date, I am comfortable with the following:
The university’s name would be stated as the ‘University of Wellington’ rather than
‘Victoria University of Wellington’.
I’m not entirely convinced about the need to include the word ‘The’ as a part of the name.
While there are some modest advantages, there are also disadvantages including added
complexity and a potential impression of ‘pomposity’ that does not fit with a pragmatic
civic university.
Given our obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi, it is important we continue to use our
Māori name in association with the ‘University of Wellington’. I have consulted with the
Deputy VC (Māori) and we are comfortable we can delete the words ‘Te Whare
Wānanga’ from our Māori name. This deletion ends our association with the politically
contested word ‘wānanga’ but preserves our association with Wellington through the
words ‘Te Ūpoko o te ika a Māui’.
Professor Higgins and I also believe there may be merit in including the Māori translation
of Victoria or ‘Wikitōria’ alongside but separate from ‘Te Ūpoko o te ika a Māui’. The
rationale for this is that it preserves the University’s historic association with (and
whakapapa to) the word ‘Victoria’. In addition, the word ‘Wikitōria’ has been used for
many years by Māori staff, students and stakeholders to describe the University and
could potentially be used more widely in the future as more New Zealander’s embrace te
Reo.
Reconsidering of selected elements of the logo and style guide
Advice will soon be required from external agencies on the logo and style guide. However,
the following preliminary conclusions will help guide the briefing of the agency.
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Given the importance of continuity when undertaking a simplification of the University’s
name, I do not believe it is the right time to make major changes to other elements of the
University’s brand guidelines including colours, fonts, the crest, general layouts etc.
Consultation and market research on the preferred name/brand option(s)
Thought is required to outline the best approach to stakeholder consultation and define the
market research required on the preferred name/brand option(s) – over and above the
Colmar Brunton work already undertaken off-shore. My sense is that two consultative
phases are required – first a series of discussions with stakeholders examining the rationale
for change (centering on our poor international band performance) and secondly, more
focused discussion of the preferred name/brand options.
The first phase is effectively already underway given recent discussions with Council, SLT,
Heads of School, CSU Directors, leading professors and selected civic leaders. The
feedback from these discussions and others to come will provide an important validation (or
lack thereof) of the Project and will be an important go/no-go decision point.
Considering the impact of the simplified name on sub-brands
Simplification of the University name to the University of Wellington will orphan a number of
sub-brands that include ‘Victoria’. Some of these are significant business units of the
University (e.g. Victoria Business School, VicLink, and Victoria University Press) and others
are Trusts (e.g. Victoria University Foundation; Research Trust of Victoria) and student
associations (e.g. VUWSA and numerous clubs and societies). Consideration will need to go
into which of these sub-brands can be and should be changed and the timing of such
changes.
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Promoting the University’s preferred name/brand
Once the preferred name/brand option has been identified, it will need to be promoted
through both domestic and international channels. Advice will be required on the best
approach to this including timing (‘big bang’ or ‘incremental’) and any variations for different
market segments (international vs domestic) and stakeholder groups. It is possible
information on the reason for the brand change may need to be prepared for external
audiences as well as internal audiences to help stave off the almost inevitable criticism of
‘tax payer’ expenditure.
The key international channels for promotion will most likely include the publications of
ranking agencies and various other higher education journals.
The ranking agencies will need to be formally informed of the change as will the research
databases like Scopus and Web of Science to ensure the correct attribution of research
publications and citations. The ranking agencies have a formal process for such name
changes and our Library will need to play a key role in managing this change.
An early focus will need to be on updating the website. A more pragmatic approach could be
taken to the refreshing of the current physical signage – noting that local audiences (around
Wellington) will be unlikely to be confused by the gradual change over of physical signage.
Other operational work streams
As noted in your memo, there will be a range of other operational work streams that will
need to be scoped including:
Legal –
Human Resources – contracts, role descriptions and recruitment
Library – especially research citations
International engagement – rankings and partner relationships
Alumni and Development – alumni and donor relations
Graduation and qualifications
IT and Research Office
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Budget
The VC’s 2018 budget will have limited freeboard for Brand 2018 and for the continuation of
the branding work from 2016/17. Most likely, this will need to remain within a maximum
spend of $200K during 2018 with additional budget being made available in 2019.
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