Telling our story with confidence and clarity

Building the Imperial brand

So much more than a logo or a particular shade of blue, the ‘Imperial brand’ is the way Imperial is perceived - what people think and feel when they think about Imperial. 

Imperial's brand has not kept pace with Imperial's brilliance, and we need to do something about that if we are to compete for talent, funding and partners. 

Efforts to build our brand come from many different parts of the Imperial community. A more proactive approach to internal and external communications, message discipline, and the careful application of insight, evaluation and prioritisation in our communications helps.  

The impact people see Imperial having on their lives and global challenges matters – as does the experience people have when they come into contact with Imperial. 

The Imperial website is our digital ‘shop window’ and we are embarking on a multi-year project to improve the user experience of the site and make sure it reflects Imperial’s stature and ambition.      

Another key element is our brand identity. We can support and enhance all our outreach, recruitment, research uptake, communications and marketing – in the UK and internationally – if we have a clear, compelling and consistent approach to how we convey ourselves. 

This means taking a hard look at what Imperial stands for at its core and what’s special about us, and at how we express that verbally, visually, through our associations and through the way people experience us.  

Investing in our brand identity, as our competitors do, is an important part of how we build the Imperial brand and encourage others to join us, partner with us, invest in us and diversify our income streams.  

Investing in our people

A motivated, diverse and thriving community is the foundation of any successful institution – thoughtful internal communications and staff engagement can help build and maintain that community. 

Meanwhile, Imperial’s staff and students embody its brilliance. They are generating and harnessing new knowledge and technologies to make our world healthier, smarter, safer, more prosperous and more sustainable.  

They are key to our reputation and brand and showcasing them in our external communications can help attract others to join us, support us, and invest in us. 

There are so many reasons to showcase the best of our community to the world. 

• Our students embody the best of our student experience and appeal to prospective students. Working with their user-generated content on preferred social channels will sometimes be the best way to reach our student audience. 
• Our experts and academics are not just spokespeople, they are thought leaders and generators of innovative ideas. A post-COVID surge in public support for scientists strengthened already high levels of public trust. 
• Our professional, technical and operational staff are part of the glue that binds our people together. Showcasing their work helps create pride in the Imperial community. 
• Our alumni are not only an audience: they are partners, investors, donors; a channel for our communications; and a source of content. Through their success stories we show our impact. 
• Through our staff and students, we can showcase both our brilliance and our values in action, including our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. 
• We can nudge our supporters and partners to advocate on our behalf, bringing the extra weight of their credibility and independence as they tell our story for us.   

To increase the impact of Imperial’s people and their work, and to deliver on key priorities for the Imperial community, we will put our people at the heart of our internal and external communications. 

Maximising our impact

We rightly expect our communications to do lots of different things at the same time. 

Our communications have to appeal to diverse groups of people and support a range of objectives – from fundraising to student recruitment, and from influencing policy to explaining complex scientific and medical research for the general public – all while presenting a coherent and credible whole.  

We are fortunate that we have an abundance of great stories to work with. Imperial is home to the most exciting innovations in science, technology, medicine and business, and to brilliant and dynamic people solving the world’s biggest challenges. 

And we have an ability to reach people through some of the most influential channels. 

To make the most of our brilliant stories and people and the platform we can give them, while presenting a coherent overarching story and ultimately achieving our objectives, we must be selective and targeted. We will: 

• Identify and invest in key themes, returning to them and building them over time. 
• Plan ahead and prioritise the most important communications moments and topics. Channelling our collective efforts will help the College achieve the recognition it deserves. 
• Produce content that is clear and to the point, tailored for the audience, and deliver it using the right channel, at the right moment to reach our intended audience. For some that will mean securing media coverage in a particular outlet, while for others social media, direct communication or other routes will be most effective.  
• Be smart about how we gather information and communication material from the College, building on existing work and relationships where possible.  
• Learn lessons from our successes and apply them to our future work.  

Taking this approach will help us focus on key priorities for Imperial, to increase the impact of our community and its work, and to help us better understand and serve our audiences.