BMAT

Moving beyond the colloquial

Through spending time with the CEO and her team, it quickly became apparent the external brand had failed to keep up with the organisation itself. What was once a small multi-academy trust in Harlow, Essex, had grown into an ambitious, highly-regarded network of 12 schools spread across Essex and East London. The problem was the brand spoke of an organisation altogether more ordinary, more colloquial.

It was time for the brand to play catch-up.

The first hurdle to overcome was the most obvious one – the name. Everyone agreed the name ‘Burnt Mill Academy Trust’ was no longer suitable to a growing network that reached far beyond the confines of the first school after which it was named. Our suggestion was simple and affordable – adopt the moniker (BMAT) and allow this to move from acronym to official name.

Time to stand for something

‍The second big hurdle we had to overcome was the propensity for BMAT to do what most brands in education do – stand for everything. In the swirl of their vision, mission, values and motto were many words and several competing ideas.

Our question to BMAT was this: ‘What will you stand for?’

Using our brand methodology, that included workshops with senior leaders, interviews with staff and research of the peer landscape, it became apparent that BMAT could stand for something in particular – something that not every state school network would be prepared to stand for: FREEDOM.

We took that higher purpose, and drilled down into what it looked like for BMAT – crafting the following ‘brand story’ for the Trust in the new day:

At BMAT, we believe in freedom.
In lifting the ceiling off our children.
In letting our teachers truly teach.
In letting our schools express who they are.
To be part of BMAT is to be part of something bigger – a place where schools, teachers and children are freed to succeed.

A visual identity the brand deserved

‍With a ‘new’ name and big thought everyone could get behind, the challenge was finding a look and feel that would invoke the same levels of enthusiasm.

We took our inspiration from the idea of BMAT being the ones that set their sights on the horizon, on pushing into unknown possibilities. This kernel of inspiration birthed ‘the glow’, a graphic device that represented the sun and became the focal point of the new look and feel. This was accompanied by a strong, open-feeling typeface and a colour palette that was distinctive but not overbearing.

Similarly, the logo we settled for was deliberately ‘restrained’ – reflecting the rays of the sun and capturing a sense of positive energy and possibility at the heart of the brand.