media releases - Unisa launches new, vibrant African brand and identity

Pretoria, 30 March, 2005 - UNISA's new brand identity was unveiled today in a multimedia spectacle of poetry, dance and high technology at several functions on the University’s Muckleneuk campus in Pretoria and its regional premises.

Attended by a large number of luminaries from South Africa’s education, business, social and political fields, including the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, first lady, Zanele Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, former Mpumalanga premier and chairman of UNISA council, Dr. Mathews Phosa, the events put the seal on the biggest of all university mergers in South Africa.

With a brand value of R157.9-million and over 200 000 students and 5 000 staff members, the new UNISA is Africa’s premier distance education institution and one of 12 mega-universities in the world.

In an unusual direction, the new university features three major distinct but interdependent identities – an official crest, a primary identity and a subsidiary identity for the Graduate School of Business Leadership.

The crest is reserved for official inaugurations, investitures, graduations and official transcripts and certificates. The primary identity, featuring the flames derived from the crest, is the main identifier of the university, and is used for signage, communication material and all merchandising and branding.

The subsidiary identity, also derived from the crest, is reserved to identify the university’s subsidiary, the Graduate School of Business Leadership.

Commenting on the new identity of the University, Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Nyameko Barney Pityana says:

“The new UNISA brand embodies the vibrant, contemporary and timeless expression of the strength, heritage and dynamism of the new University of South Africa.”

Emerging South African agencies Brand Leadership, together with Two Tone Design, beat 19 other competitors to win the contract to research, develop the brand positioning and identity, valuation as well as execute the intellectual property of the new institution.

The comprehensive project included a holistic definition of the merged institution’s identity and multi- media and dimensional application key touch points in communication, signage, exhibition, and merchandising.

The agencies also partnered with university clothing manufacturers, Dippenaar and Reinecke and leading South African designer, Stoned Cherrie, to design the new range of academic regalia to complement the new African identity of the university.

“They have dug deep into the fountains of African cultural and philosophical inspiration,” Prof Pityana says, in commending the work of the agencies involved.

“UNISA’s new brand symbolises the identity of everyone who is a member of the global UNISA family. It is what binds us together as a community of staff, students and stakeholders with a common goal, history and a place of our own, different from other institutions,” says Prof Pityana.

“The new brand identity is distinctly African and leverages the heritage of the previous institution to firmly establish the new UNISA as a brand in its own class befitting that of one of the world’s top 12 mega universities,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, Managing Director of Brand Leadership.

The motto, “Pro Gentibus Sapientia”, meaning “learning in service to humanity”, is derived from the institution’s vision, “Towards the African university in the service of humanity,” captures the values of the new institution.

Flames represent the freedom that comes with education. Sparks represent creativity and enlightenment. The calabash symbolises abundance and the role of the university in the community, generosity and sharing, and is adorned with diamonds to signify the wealth of knowledge each of the five UNISA colleges confers. The arch represents the brain. The wave-like pages represent an open book. The unity symbol represents the interdependence that lies at the root of African humanity. Finally, the tusks represent the honour, integrity, and strength of this truly African university.

The launch brand campaign, also created by Two Tone Design and Brand Leadership, features several leading UNISA honorees and graduates, including Nelson Mandela. The campaign focuses on the primary value proposition of the new institution – “in service to humanity” – and offers as an example, that many leading Africans, who are recognized humanitarians, are graduates or honorees of UNISA.

Leading the campaign, former state president Nelson Mandela earned his LLB from UNISA in 1989 while in Robben Island and was awarded a LLD by UNISA in 1999.

Over 7000 different stakeholders offered their opinions on the new brand and brand elements. There was constructive criticism, which was fed into the brand development process, but the outcome was not in doubt. “A masterpiece indeed,” wrote one student. “I was disenchanted, sober and crestfallen. But the moment I saw the crest and logo, I was empowered. Change it or leave it, it will forever be inscribed in my heart.”

About UNISA

A stronger, bigger, more flexible University of South Africa emerged on
1 January 2004, when the official merger with Technikon Southern Africa
and the incorporation of Vista-Vudec went ahead. The new comprehensive
institution has over 200 000 students, assets exceeding R3 billion and
an annual budget of R3 billion, giving it the status of a mega-university of global significance.

Issued on behalf of: University of South Africa
Client contact Doreen Gough
Tel. No: (012) 352-4150
Email address goughdd@unisa.ac.za

Client contact: Thebe Ikalafeng – Brand Leadership
and Two Tone Design
Tel. No.: (011) 463 5091
Email address: thebe@brand-leadership.com