“The programme has been about so much more than just pretty pictures or a new logo. It has helped us identify our values and taken branding right into the core of the business”
Background
In just 10 years Clive and Helen Tongue have developed a highly successful group of day nurseries. Both with teaching backgrounds they opened their first site in a converted dental surgery in 2000, catering for just 30 children. Now they provide care for up to 307 children, over four different sites across southern Hampshire.
The challenge
Cive and Helen had never thought about running a business until their son was born. Needing day care themselves they looked closely at available local nurseries, realised there was an opportunity and opened their first site, ‘Little Shipmates’. Just four year later they were invited to tender to run Southampton City College’s nursery. They beat both national and local competition to take over ‘Sunrise’ in 2005, and have slowly increased numbers from just 12 to 74 children. In 2008 they opened their third site, ‘Starfish’, in Fareham.
“As we acquired businesses we had taken a rather piecemeal approach to visual identity,” said Clive. “We were about to go head-to-head with the national corporates and we wanted to ensure our successful business model was not rejected because it lacked the professional credibility of a strong brand.”
The response
From the start rebranding Little Shipmates has been a real team effort. Design Associate Ian Ferris quickly identified the mismatch between the company’s existing image and where it wanted to be and worked closely with Clive to help him identify where design could have the biggest impact on his business objectives. With this in mind he went on to define a formal design brief for a brand strategy project and then sourced a selection of suitable design consultants to pitch for the work.
The outcome
“Each nursery in the Little Shipmats family now has its own distinct image, based around simple children’s craft projects, and looks highly professional” said Clive. “That alone woudl have been enough to justify the time involved, but we were also successful in winning a new contract and from their feedback we know that our branding was instrumental to that success.”
Download the Little Shipmates case study
Tags: designing demand, generate, Little Shipmates
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