With all this talk of ‘brand’ guidelines, you might be left wondering what the term actually means. Marketing expert Philip Kotler describes a brand as: “any label that carries meaning and associations” but “a great brand does more: it lends coloration and resonance to a product or service.” He also defines brand experience: “Don’t advertise the brand, live it. Ultimately the brand is built by your employees who deliver a positive experience to the customers."
The London Met brand is an experience and we, the staff, are responsible for delivering this. We live our brand: it’s the professional service we give to students when they join us at enrolment and it’s the quality of our lectures and lunchtime talks, and our research. You can see it in the support we give to those who use our student services and in the warm send-off we give our students at graduation.
Our brand is something to own and be proud of.
Recommended reading
Alongside the extract from Philip Kotler's book, if you are interested in finding out more about branding you might wish to browse the reading lists for the CIM and CAM marketing courses (the CAM Diploma in Digital Marketing – Media and Branding is a good place to start). In the development of these brand guidelines, the Marketing team read, with interest, Wally Olins's The Brand Handbook and Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team by Alina Wheeler.
