Brand foundations
Our brand story
What is a brand story?
A brand story is an enduring encapsulation of the purpose and ethos of the brand. It is authentic and ownable, yet aspirational and emotive. It articulates the distinctive position the brand seeks to claim in people’s hearts and minds.
Who is it for?
It is for internal audiences that work with the brand in their day-to-day role, and guides business decision-making around how the brand goes to market.
How should it be used?
Internally it provides an actionable guide for marketeers, communicators and designers to use when creating external communications and experiences.
What do we mean by ‘brand’?
How people internally and externally experience you, it covers everything from strategy and visual identity to advertising.
Our role in the world
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is proud to be part of the University of Cambridge, respected for our long heritage and ethos of excellence. We exist to further the University’s mission ‘to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence’.
What we offer and how we do things
Every year we help to unlock the potential of millions of people around the world. Our qualifications give learners the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to develop, and our trusted assessments give them the opportunity to prove what they have learnt, enabling them to succeed. Our high-quality academic publications and original research spread knowledge, spark enquiry and aid understanding. Our expertise gives vital support to teachers and schools, shaping curricula and education systems around the world.
What makes us different
Our offer is exceptional in its depth and breadth. We meet the needs of our learners, authors and customers by bringing research, teaching, learning and assessment together. We use our expertise in research, assessment and publishing to create high-quality learning experiences. We provide teachers with rich data, adaptive learning resources and assessment tools, so they can better support their students. We ensure academics have access to high-quality, digitally inter-connected materials that enhance understanding and the global impact of their research.
The impact we create
We maximise our impact through careful listening and collaboration to develop innovative products and services that are relevant, exciting and inspiring. And because we are a not-for-profit organisation, our financial success is reinvested in progressing the Cambridge mission, enabling us to invest in and expand on the good we do. Our solutions bring better support to teaching, more confidence to learning, more assurance to assessment and greater advancement to research. Together, we’re opening opportunities, discovering possibilities, and helping people across the world to realise their potential, benefitting society and the planet.
Brand behaviours
What are brand behaviours?
Brand behaviours are guiding principles that inform the way our brand engages with the world. These are authentic to the brand today and are aspirational about the way we want the brand to be in the future. They
- work together to express our brand’s personality
- demonstrate our values
- capture our world view
- inform the way we look (our design) speak (our tone of voice) and act (our culture).
Who are these for?
Internal audiences that work with the brand in their day-to-day role. However, brand behaviours manifest themselves externally in everything our brand does – from personal interactions, to the copy on our website.
How should these be used?
Internally behaviours inspire our culture, how we relate to customers and each other, and the communications we create. Externally, customers experience our behaviours through every interaction they have with our brand, from marketing communications to personal interactions with colleagues. Brand behaviours reflect how we want the world to experience our brand.
Our brand behaviors
Empathetic, inclusive, engaging and understanding.
Expert, knowledgeable, skillful, the trusted source.
Listening, attentive, approachable and customer-first. Leader, proactive, inventive and original.
Progressive, cutting edge, forward looking and striving for better. Partner, collaborative, enabling and for the long-term.
Behaviour one
Empathetic expert
How we look
We design with context and audience in mind, organising our heritage logo with the wider brand identity consistently, to make the most impact out of every interaction.
How we speak
Thoughtful and thought-through, our language is authentic and inspiring, tailored to the diverse audiences we reach.
How we act
We build our expertise by adopting open ways of working to deliver purposeful, considered and holistic offers with and for our customers.
Behaviour two
Listening leader
How we look
Clean, open and expansive, our design sets the standard in accessibility, usability and navigability.
How we speak
We reflect the best of our customers ideas and share thought leading concepts in language that is clear and concise.
How we act
We’re attentive and active listeners — to our customers, our partners and to each other — careful to assess yet quick to adapt.
Behaviour three
Progressive partner
How we look
Vibrant and contemporary, our look has the confidence to be simple, adaptable, agile and fit for purpose.
How we speak
We use straightforward language that engages and connects with the audience.
How we act
We anticipate what’s new and what’s next by embracing innovation, fresh insights and the latest research, offering the best of them to our customers.
© Cambridge University Press & Assessment, 2024