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14

M U T

S P I R I T

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J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

The beginning of 2020 was not like the beginning of

any other year for the Department of Marketing and

Communications (MarComms). A successful launch of

the new MUT Corporate Identity (CI) in December set in

motion the difficult task of ensuring that the University

starts using its first new corporate identity in 40 years.

This meant ensuring that every document that has

MUT’s name on it had to bear the new logo and follow

the prescripts of the new look and feel.

“Launching our new CI was only the beginning of a long

process of ensuring that MUT bears this new identity,”

said Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director at MarComms. “The

beginning of the year offered a valuable opportunity to

implement this identity as university processes start for

the year.”

The majority of MUT students had already left the

University when the new CI was launched in December.

Although they could not have missed the news, they

were going to come face-to-face with their new logo

for the first time. For returning students, the logo would

not be completely new because they had participated in

the surveys that led to its development, and had been

on campus when the new logo was voted on. For first-

time registering students, the logo would be completely

fresh.

For MUT staff, the logo was all too familiar at this

stage. It was only a matter of how to use it and where

to find templates for all its uses. As with any change, it

takes time for people to get used to it. But time was a

commodity that MarComms did not have. The longer

MarComms waited in guiding the University through this

transition, the longer the uptake of the new corporate

identity would take.

“Our mandate was to get every employee to start using

the new CI on all official university documents,” said

Mkhize. “All MUT documents had to be dressed in this

new identity and it was upon us to make this process

easy for staff, especially secretaries who use these

documents with their line managers.”

To streamline this process of helping staff to use the new

CI, MarComms established a Brand Helpdesk. Staff now

had a dedicated place to go and find their colleagues

who would help them with their brand use needs. It was

here that the Brand Police, armed with their knowledge

of the new CI and how it should be used, waited to help

staff to make the transition smoother.

Branding is about consistency not only in university

documents and apparel, but also in the email signatures

of every staff member. Email signatures hold the key to

representing the MUT brand appropriately internally and

outside the University. Using the new logo, MarComms

developed new signatures for use by all MUT staff.

Instructions on how to download the template and to add

one’s information to it were circulated. This second layer

of consistency required the Brand Police to visit staff

offices and help staff who are less techno-savvy than

others with updating their signatures to stay on brand.

The Brand Police continue to visit brand newbies and

offenders, and signs bearing the old MUT logo are

gradually being replaced by ones carrying the new logo.

The task of dressing MUT in its new identity continues.

Getting the University dressed in its new identity