How BTC use the National College for Nuclear brand
As one of the National College for Nuclear’s (NCfN) founding partners, Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) have been part of our journey from the very beginning. When the NCfN was formed in 2016, the logo and branding guidelines were developed by an agency for use by all partners. A communications plan was also written, with all partners aware that the ‘National College’ concept was a new one and could potentially be confusing for stakeholders, especially in the local market of each provider.
During these early days, many lessons were learnt in understanding how the NCfN was understood and recognised by provider staff, parents, students and other stakeholders. It was recognised that whilst the NCfN brand was gaining recognition nationally, the local market in Somerset knew and trusted Bridgwater & Taunton College. BTC therefore took the decision to promote their NCfN provision as ‘National College for Nuclear at BTC’ within the local environment but to use the ‘NCfN Southern Hub’ branding on a national level.
BTC now treat their NCfN in the same way as their other commercial business – for example, The Hair & Beauty Zone at BTC, The Quantock Restaurant at BTC etc (see below).
This approach supports a consistency of branding and ensures that the known, trusted brand of BTC remains present for parents, young people, schools etc. There is a selection of marketing collateral branded in this way – brochures, signage, workwear for staff etc. However, students studying on NCfN courses are still BTC students, with BTC email addresses.
BTC’s Head of Marketing & Communications says: “It is a finely tuned balance in terms of messaging but in general, we have found that the BTC brand makes most sense to parents, schools and students. BTC is extremely well-known in the area and is a strong and trusted brand. However, the NCfN brand has real strength and traction with employers so in our conversations with them, in business development opportunities and when networking, our team use the National College for Nuclear brand to demonstrate the quality and prominence of our nuclear provision and how it has been developed with the sector. Employers and other stakeholders within the nuclear industry really value the NCfN name now and so it is important we leverage that in our conversations with them”.