What is a brand?

A brand is a promise – a consistent promise it can keep. A brand states what an organisation does, how it does it, and sets out its personality, values and unique position in the world. Therefore, those people who deliver the brand are responsible for ensuring that promise is fulfilled, consistently and without compromise.

Successful brands capture the essential truth about an organisation, manifested through the stories, behaviour and actions of its people, its culture, processes and policies, the service it delivers, its places and its partnerships.

"A brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." — Jeff Bezos

A brand is built on a thousand actions.

Bath Spa University's brand and identity is shaped by our places, our people and our provision – what we do. We define ourselves by the following premise:

We're the university of choice for the study of creativity, culture and enterprise. 

We're a place of contrasts: history and heritage combine with a progressive outlook and innovative teaching methods, and tranquil environment and vibrant courses. Our students enjoy the best of all worlds in spaces where ideas and great work flourish.

BSU delivers a matchless experience as well as the space for students to explore, discover, learn and grow.

We have a great story to tell and, as a community, our role is to provide this matchless experience and live up to our promises. 

We do this through the many ways our brand is experienced by students (future, present and past) their supporters, their employers, the local community, our staff, our partners, and the sector as whole. 

Universities are inherently linked to their place, and BSU is no different. Bath is a creative and innovative metropolis of the UK, a city of imagination filled with theatres, bars, galleries, and a fantastic array of independent cafés and shops. All this is set against its Roman history and heritage, which is carefully blended with modern architecture. 

Our brand and our place stretches beyond Bath to Bath Spa University London, as well as our UK and international partners. Our brand and communications should reflect our vibrant, diverse and ever-changing community and world in which we live.

With our beautiful mix of heritage buildings, modern architecture, inspired courses, innovative teaching methods, world-class reputation and cutting edge facilities, we share the city of Bath's creative vibrancy, long heritage and progressive outlook.

To bring our brand to life visually, we've drawn inspiration from our heritage and the history that surrounds us, blending it with our ethos of Professional Creativity to create a brand expression that will take us into the future. 

When we talk about ourselves, we can refer to our brand behaviours and brand values. 

Brand behaviours:

  • Curiosity, Creativity, Confidence; we're curious, creative and confident. 

Brand values: 

  • Respect, Inclusion, Sustainability, Collaboration; we're respectful, inclusive, sustainable and collaborative.

We're all of these things, which gives BSU its unique character, depth and breadth, and creates the space for students to explore, learn, grow and thrive. 

We use our brand to bring our story(ies) to life through our people, experiences, actions, imagery and words. 

We're helping our students to thrive and nurturing tomorrow’s employees and entrepreneurs.

Many staff are engaged in professional practice that informs their teaching and research and we have a commitment to developing innovative, effective teaching and learning. This excellence is supported by a genuine sense of care, and our teachers go the extra mile to guide and mentor their students. 

How we communicate with people shapes their understanding and perception of us, and helps them to engage with us. Our brand facilitates this connection through our tone of voice, our font styles, creative and confident communications and having clear brand architecture so our people can understand how best to reach and connect with our community and audience.