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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