Optimus Education Brand redesign
Owned by Electric Word PLC, since 1997 Optimus Education has been the leading provider of conferences, professional development support and school improvement information for schools, academies and other educational institutions.
After a difficult transition from print based publications supported by telesales to a fully online resource, Optimus was up for sale. In order to make the business more attractive to potential buyers they took the decision to re-brand and asked us to create a bright but professional brand-style, while being careful not to alienate their existing customer base – all of whom are individuals and organisations in the field of education.
The project requirements:
- Redesign the Optimus logo and brand-style
- Redesign their website in keeping with the updated brand-style
- Redesign all marketing materials.
The various phases of the project required our team to collaborate with numerous departments across the Optimus Education business.
In-house criticisms were levelled against the logo, website and printed marketing materials. Following the compiling of these opinions and our own desktop research around aspects of the competition, we redefined the brief – keeping that which had been well-received by customers and removing or adjusting those that were less popular.
Our process for the project included: Discovery Meeting, Research, Scope Meeting, Concept Development, Brand Style Development, Design Execution, Revisions and Approvals and Product Delivery.
A year or so after the re-brand was completed Optimus was sold to one of its main competitors, The Prospects Group, for approximately £2m. It was felt by the board that the strength of the brand-style was a strong factor in the decision taken by The Prospects Group to acquire the business.
