This week, the University of Cambridge is welcoming students for its Michaelmas 2018 term. Already ranked as the UK’s leading university for employability, the careers service nevertheless felt they needed to strengthen their brand within the university.

Segmenting by user need

IE Brand has been working with Cambridge since March to craft clearer brand messaging – informed by rigorous stakeholder research – based around three types of student. Rather than segment the service's users based on type of degree or how far they are through their course, we've split them according to how clear they are already about their next steps.

• I’m looking for ideas
• I’ve got a few ideas
• I have a clear idea

Guidance and resources on the updated Careers Service website are now signposted according to these three types of user, with messaging to match, as expained in their short video:

The act of listening

Experience has taught the careers advisers at Cambridge that us the best way to truly understand a person is to ask the right questions, sit back, and listen. The new visual identity is a modern classic, based around The Wavelength – the brand’s unique visual interpretation of the act of listening. It's based on the work of 18th century German physicist Ernst Chladni, who visualised sound frequencies through a series of geometric patterns.

Authentic photography of real Cambridge students, bold typography, a new name style, and the Cambridge crest all combine with the Wavelength to create a unique visual identity for the Careers Service. It stands out on site, while adhering to the overarching brand guidelines for this centuries-old institution. IE also created a variant for the Postdoc Careers Service, with its own namestyle, to recognise the different needs of postdoctoral researchers.

The Careers Service's flagship publications, the "Cambridge Careers Guide" and "CVs & Cover Letters Book" now feature the new brand, and it adorns every piece of marketing collateral and event signage for the service. IE Brand has handed over the new brand guidelines, assets, templates and messaging matrix, so the Careers Service team now have everything they need to create consistent branded resources and comms across all platforms.

We’re all set up at Freshers’ Fair! 🌟 Pop by our stand in the Careers Zone (back of the main marquee on Parker’s Piece) to meet us, pick up our major publications, term card & sweets🤩 #CambridgeFreshersWeek #CUFreshersFair pic.twitter.com/pgZC7buzJm

— University of Cambridge Careers Service (@unicamcareers) October 2, 2018

The icing on the cake

The University of Cambridge Careers Service are delighted with the work we've delivered, inviting IE's brand team to join the whole Careers Service in celebrating the brand launch and share in a very special cake!

Spotted we've rebranded? 🤩 Today we celebrated the launch of our new look with tea and an on-brand chocolate cake! Learn why we included the three speech bubbles here -> https://t.co/QtrybYqNdr #cambridgeuniversity #unicamcareers #branding #careerjourney #newlook pic.twitter.com/s08k3gDUHZ

— University of Cambridge Careers Service (@unicamcareers) September 26, 2018

Look out for a full Cambridge case study soon. Meanwhile, why not take a look at some of IE's other university careers service rebrands for Reading, Birmingham, Aston and more?