"Your Brand is what people say about you when you are not in the Room" - Jeff Bezos, Amazon
On October 29, 2014 The Notre Dame Brand was challenged at the Notre Dame Summit that was held at the College with Key Alumni, Parents & Friends of the College. The question kept arising “Who Are We?”, “What Does Notre Dame Represent?”, “What Does Notre Dame Promise to Our Students” and "Are we more then a hockey school"?
The College was tasked to answer these questions.
PHASE 1:
In 2015, the journey began to find our “Notre Dame Brand”, that was true to who we are, without losing focus of our rich history.
The College put out an RFP for Marketing & Graphic Designers to start Phase 1 of our Brand Identity. Our steering committee interviewed 4 firms in May of 2015.
June of 2015, the College welcomed The Offord Group with their graphic partners Hamley & Wooley, on board to help us strengthen our brand. The Offord Group is well diversified working with other CAIS Boarding Schools and specifically in the educational market. Hamley & Wooley are well diversified working in the educational & athletic markets.
Over the next year, from June 2015 until July 2016, The Steering Committee, The Offord Group and Hamley & Wooley worked diligently to bring our Phase 1 of our brand together.
• Five on campus round tables with Alumni, Parents, Students, Staff and Board Members lead by the Offord Group in October, 2015.
• History Archives Museum Tours with Gerry Schiebel, October 2015.
• Auditing all of our current and past material, ensured the Offord Group knew and understood our rich history, June 2015 - December 2015.
• Studying our competitors to help set ourselves apart, June 2015 - December 2015.
• The Board was presented the Brand Positioning Brief at January 2016 Board Meeting
• Set of two roundtables were had with students, staff & board members in March, 2016.
• The Board of Regents was presented the Brand Identity at April 2016 Board Meeting
• The Board of Regents was presented the Graphic Standards Manual September 2016
The Outcome:
The Notre Dame Brand Promise:
• We will nurture and balance all aspects of the student’s academic, athletic, extra-curricular and spiritual growth.
• In Boarding, the students’ needs are all met in one location, allowing the student more time to accomplish such a diverse schedule.
• We will ensure he or she develops the values, responsibilities, skills and work ethic that are important for success in school, sports and life.
• We provide a prairie location that has a supportive & family environment
• We have a deep sense of tradition, with one of Canada’s strongest high school Alumni networks.
Athol Murray College of Notre Dame’s Key Promises:
• We will help provide opportunities of growth to become Purposeful leader
• We challenge our students to develop habits that lead to a Virtuous character
• We will encourage & help grow a Balanced Life
• We will provide the faculty & support that will help our students find Academic Excellence
• We will provide coaches and a culture that will enhance Athletic Development
• We will help guide our students towards Spiritual Growth
• We will provide a positive and caring Boarding Experience
• We will be nurturing and Caring
• We will be a Safe community
Notre Dame Logos:
1. Notre Dame Seal - We did not want to change our school crest, which has now been named our Official School Seal, and will only be reserved for formal, historical, alumni and heritage designations.
2. Notre Dame Shield - The College Identity will be the Notre Dame School Shield - and will be the focal point of the visual identity program. It was important for Notre Dame to have a school shield that said the full name of the school, mainly for recruitment purposes as there are several schools named Notre Dame. We also wanted a logo that had a feeling of academics, and really represented our history and a feeling it has been around since day 1920.
3. Notre Dame Athletic Logo - Will only be used to represent Notre Dame Athletics. This logo was updated to reflect the school shield logo's font & strengthened dog, very minimal changes. The Notre Dame Argos design is identical.