Once upon a time there was a brand called Nova SBE

"The universe is made of stories, not atoms" Muriel Rukeyser

I came across this quote by Muriel Rukeyser for the first time last year while listening to the welcome speech to students by Professor Daniel Traça, Dean of Nova SBE. In that moment, I knew we were on the right track.It had been six months since Nova SBE's brand strategy, communication and consequent rebranding project had begun.

What we can see today is only the tip of the iceberg, as it is impossible to comprehend the number of people involved in this project, the number of hours dedicated, the work, the effort and the commitment that took an entire team to actually manage to define the audacious path they are now treading.

My name is Paula Delgado. I'm a designer, independent brand strategy consultant, storyteller and (to quote the way I was recently introduced) a disruptor - one whose role is to challenge and question - i.e. a pain in the ass!

I am also a Nova SBE alumni and the consultant responsible for the definition and implementation of the brand strategy developed over the last 14 months.

What I love most about what I do is trying to capture the essence of human potential. Finding the (so often) latent truth of an organisation and capturing it in an engaging narrative that everyone can make their own too - the why/what/how (thanks, Simon!); the intangible stuff that moves people to do often challenging things, not out of obligation, but out of will, out of choice.

I am fascinated by organisations and how important it is for a collective to have a sense of common purpose, something capable of moving a group of people in such a way that they can give their best and, throughout the process, still be able to surprise us.

There are three conditions necessary for a project of this nature and depth to happen:

1. A moment of change and the consequent urgency that derives from that moment;

2. A group of people who are bold, fearless and dedicated to the challenge at hand - an organisation and its leaders willing to embrace a process that is neither trivial nor linear. Even with a rigorous methodology, the result is intrinsically related to the diagnosis and the solution derived from it;

3. A curious mind - a pure and genuine interest in wanting to know where the process will take us, what we will find and what we can learn along the way.

In short, the Perfect Storm.

As you can imagine, it is not common to find organisations going through this particular moment, much less in Portugal.

And it will be easy to understand what a privilege it has been to develop this project for an institution like Nova SBE and why it makes sense. With its 40 years of disruption and its ambition to create an international school based in Portugal, Nova SBE is a school capable of transforming national higher education into a case study, thanks to its bold vision of becoming more than what would be expected for an institution located in one of the most peripheral places in the world.

This was the scenario I encountered when one day I entered Nova SBE to have lunch with one of its most charismatic figures - Professor Pedro Santa Clara - and this is how it all began.

Chapter I - Capturing the Essence

Capturing the essence of an institution means taking a three-dimensional photograph of its past (its legacy), present (the current moment) and future (its opportunity). As in any research process that is intended to be rigorous and produce pertinent insights, it is essential to begin with fieldwork. In this process, this was done through interviews, focus groups, competitor survey and analysis and documentation (lots of documentation!). The challenge was to gather as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time. For a fast and steep learning curve, individual interviews played a key role in informing and driving the research itself. They are supposed to be as personal as they are precious, since it is through them that it is possible to understand what makes an organisation unique and what are the real reasons why people are part of it. In this process, we conducted dozens of interviews with people representing the stakeholder ecosystem in order to have a comprehensive and holistic view of the multiple audiences to be considered.

At the same time, it was necessary to consider all the dimensions of the market, the current moment, the target audience and which factors of change (trends and challenges) were capable of positioning the institution on a map - a scenario in which it is easy to understand where the brand is and where it can go.

Chapter II- Challenging the Status QuoQuestioning the future

At this point, it is necessary to have the courage to formulate various scenarios, from the most obvious (and consensual) to the most disruptive (perhaps absurd). Thinking about the impossible is fundamental to creating something that is as audacious as it is feasible.

By now, it is also fundamental to have an idea of the pulse, the mentality and the particularities of the organisation. To avoid the more conventional perspectives that consensus tends to force, we try to pay particular attention to those who sit at opposite ends and try to understand what their needs, expectations and desires are. When considering these dichotomies, and trying to understand how they manage to coexist in the same organisation, we are forced to also look for the bridges, the connectors, the common points. And thus begin to understand what is often hidden and what is, in fact, a unique and exceptional attribute of the organisation. We also begin to understand what made it succeed at the best times or fail at the worst.

And this, my friends, is when the real magic happens!

We start connecting the dots and, in the course of the process, we come across a universe of possibilities that were never considered. And, most importantly, it's all done together - which makes all discoveries shared and the process genuinely co-created.

Chapter III - The Moment Eureka!

Establishing the subsequent core concept, which underpins the brand and the communication strategy, requires determination. This is actually the most solitary part of the process, since what is asked is to take everything that has been discovered and established as a possibility for the future and, from that, to define an idea that points to a meaning - the brand's central message.

In this chapter, the tools used are, strictly speaking, narrative tools. You need to establish a main character - a hero. You need to write down the challenge that this hero will have to face, the mentors, the enemies and the friends he will encounter along the way. Identify the place you want to go, the desired destination.

In this case, Nova SBE had already defined its direction: to establish itself in a new home to continue growing internationally. But it was still necessary to declare why and what would be done in that new space. And by declare we mean materialise the exact reasons why someone decides to embark on a challenging journey, even if, apparently, there are no reasons to go ahead.

Defining the concept we now know as a clear horizon was an exercise of trial and error, of writing and editing, of finding a discourse (a reason!) that was faithful to what Nova SBE is, always has been and should continue to be - its values, its culture and ideals. A reason that, being intrinsically its own, was simultaneously relevant enough to stand out in a (highly competitive) international scenario.

As is often the case, the idea emerges from apparent chance, the result of crossing side references and from which we can finally begin to glimpse the core concept. In this particular case, we need to thank Sir Alfred Hitchcock and his answer to a simple (and often trivial) question - "what is your definition of happiness?"

When this question is put to those who know that happiness is not something measurable, but a moment - in a specific context, space and time - we know that we are actually talking about a state of mind. Nothing that we can really grasp, but that we seek incessantly.

True emancipation is realising that, even if conditions are more or less adverse, to a large extent it depends entirely on us to create that state of mind - a state of discovery, joy, impact and meaning. What Hitchcock defined so well was precisely that.

And, in fact, what Nova SBE has done to date, having started 40 years ago, is what exceptional people like Hitchcock are keen to ensure - to ensure that it has the conditions necessary to have an open space where we can come together and create a prosperous future that can have a significant impact on the lives of many, of all of us.

Chapter IV - Contamination

The power of a good concept is the time it saves us. When defined correctly, a good idea can expand in all directions without losing its way, because it brings the why and the what to all the people who interact with it, taking on a life of its own.

As such, when it came time to assemble a team to create and expand the identity, narrative and look & feel of Nova SBE's new brand, it was particularly exciting to see how easily the many experts involved, internal and external, could translate our clear horizon into images, words or movement. In digital or physical media. In social media or events. In speeches or simple press releases.

As before, much research was done to feed into this creative process. Initially, to understand what the discourses and visual narratives of the sector are today and which ones are closest to us. This helped me (and consequently the team) also understand that there was room for something completely different in the higher education sector, something that could reflect the pace of change and the role of business and economics schools in the 21st century. Something that could, in fact, illustrate the converging power of the two sides of the brain working together.

In this sense, after identifying the most innovative approaches in the sector, we also started to look for other references that could inform our visual and verbal discourse - without ever losing focus on rigour and excellence - which is fundamental to ensure.

We found numerous sources of inspiration in art, culture and philanthropy, as a result of the role that organisations from these areas wish to play in society - that of being spaces that encourage challenge, discovery and progress. This is why organisations such as Gulbenkian or TED emerge as inspiration, due to their remarkable use of visual and verbal material that involves their audiences.

In parallel, we also looked at brands in another sector which, in essence, is driven by the same values and ideals that the academy shares (and that are transversal to journalism) - rigour, freedom and the relentless search for truth.

In the challenging times the media are going through today, we focus our attention on the (best) examples of international press that manage to prevail as compasses in their medium while remaining true to their essence: must-have brands like The Economist or The New Yorker, widely known for the clever way they combine rigorous content with a meticulously curated look & feel.

The result is what we can now contemplate as the new Nova School of Business & Economics brand.

The brand of a public school of economics and management, based in Portugal, which wants to participate actively and effectively in building the future - yours and ours. Driven, as it always has been, by rigour and excellence, convinced of its European values for freedom and solidarity. Open to the world and positive in the way it faces the (many) possibilities arising from the enormous change we are witnessing.

A new brand - brave, curious and young. With a captivating discourse that unashamedly embraces the countless creative tools we can choose today to engage the other. In the disruption of change, Nova SBE intends to remain true to its roots, its name and, above all, its primary focus - the new generation - young, remarkable, capable and demanding talents who occupy our school today and who will tomorrow lead, shape and create the future.

Chapter V - Looking Forward, Together

By now, you might be trying to figure out the complex network of touchpoints that is being designed to deliver our message to the multiple audiences we have to engage. But that you can see is just the tip of the iceberg. At its base is an entire organisation that has embarked on a huge transformational journey - challenging, very laborious, but with a clear vision of where it can and wants to go, why and how.

By now, I am sure you have realised that this work was not done by a few, because it would be impossible. In fact, it was done by many of you. People I met along the way and you may have no idea how much you contributed. Sometimes in brief and casual conversations, other times in more relevant events, by answering some (apparently useless) questions.

And you must also have realised by now that this new chapter in Nova SBE's history is just beginning. It is a bold ambition to do a project like this in Portugal and there is still much to be done, but much of what has happened in recent years favours this cause of ours.

The urgency remains, as does the opportunity, for the school and for all of us. What Nova SBE has now is a clear path, shared (and shareable) by many - a new horizon, which we can all aspire to as we look ahead.