As an industry-leading organization operating in the 21st century, SABIS® recently unveiled a new brand image. This new identity is the result of a journey that began in December 2012 and included a great deal of time and effort to ensure that the new brand image depicts SABIS® as a forward-looking organization that maintains a strong sense of history.
Work on the branding project started with a comprehensive brand audit led by an internationally-renowned marketing agency, The Brand Union (TBU). TBU is a global agency with expertise in brand strategy, design, interaction, and brand management. In conducting a comprehensive brand audit to identify the key elements of the SABIS® brand, TBU met with SABIS® leadership and interviewed and surveyed corporate staff, stakeholders, and several other individuals throughout the SABIS® Network. Information gathered from the brand audit provided the foundation for further analysis and ultimately contributed to the design of the new SABIS® brand image.
The new brand image was designed to reflect both SABIS®’s deeply-rooted history and its commitment to remain on the cutting-edge in education in the future. SABIS®’s new image retains the core elements of the former SABIS® logo, including the iconic olive tree associated with the olive groves once covering Mt. Lebanon and Choueifat, the location of the first school in what later became the SABIS® Network. The olive tree is also a symbol for peace, cooperation, and hope, messages which are deeply embedded in SABIS®’s core values. The new identity also honors the company’s history by displaying 1886, the year in which the first school was founded.
Reflecting the organization’s commitment to making a difference in the world through education, the SABIS® tree, with strong roots, is surrounded by a circle symbolizing the globe. The new image also includes bold script that reflects the organization’s strength, confidence, and determination to remain relevant in a changing world.
Once the new design was set and approved, the implementation phase began. Every item bearing the former SABIS® logo needed to be re-branded. This included websites, promotional items, and all printed material such as brochures and banners, buildings, signs, and much more. In order to ensure that the new SABIS® brand image would be used consistently across the network, detailed brand guidelines were shared throughout the network.
“It is imperative to maintain a single identity through visual communication and to ensure that the brand is systematically used and reinforced,” stated Rita Bitar, Manager of the SABIS® Creative Design Department. “The guidelines established will definitely ensure that the identity remains coherent, which in turn will allow the brand as a whole and everything associated with it to be consistent.”
Today, the SABIS® brand stands for consistency across borders and excellence in education. It is a brand that reflects hard work over many generations and a deeply-rooted commitment to continually improve and move forward so that all students in SABIS® Network schools can achieve their full potential. Currently, close to 65,000 students in schools located in 16 countries benefit from the strength of the SABIS® Educational System and brand.