How and why ‘reasoning’ has led to a brand refresh!

The MagiKats rebrand

We hope you’ve noticed that MagiKats recently underwent a bit of a freshen up and rebrand. We also hope you like the new look and we thought it would be helpful to explain how and why this came about, as well as why it’s so important.

It all started last year with two important events: the decision to revise our programmes to include reasoning skills and the redesign of our website.

Our new website

We try to ensure that the MagiKats website is kept up to date, relevant, appealing and looks fresh and modern. Website styles and designs, as well as their functionality can date very quickly and that meant that last year, we realised it was time for an overhaul.

As part of the new website, we also realised that our branding and in particular, our logo was looking a little tired. That wasn’t to say we wanted to completely re-invent the MagiKats look, far from it. But we wanted to be sure it was modern, dynamic and truly representative of us, as well as looking good on all our communications.

Our logo

“We’re very proud of our logo. Our distinctive colours and cat have been with us for a long time and form part of our identity. But I was increasingly aware that it wasn’t working as well as it could across all platforms (social media, emails, brochures and websites) and that it needed to be able to convey the right message to all our potential students and their parents,” explains Sarah Marsh.

We had tweaked the logo not that long ago to position the cat in the circle (previously it had been a whole cat) and that had worked well in terms of social media images, favicons etc. Having a rectangular and square option was good too but we were conscious it just wasn’t working as well as it could on all our materials!

A change of colour

Over the years, the orange in our logo has also become more important (it used to be purple and yellow), particularly since last year when we refreshed some of our student photos. It therefore made sense to incorporate orange into the new logo.

“Orange is a fun, enthusiastic and dynamic colour which draws people’s attention. Purple on the other hand represents wisdom, creativity, and magic, all of which speaks volumes about MagiKats,” explains MagiKats designer Barbara Pilgrim.

Our strapline

Over time, MagiKats has evolved. In fact, we have to evolve to ensure the tuition we offer is in line with the ever-changing national curriculum.

As a result of changes in the last few years, and as we explained in a recent blog, reasoning now forms a very important part of the national curriculum and the skills that children are expected to demonstrate throughout their education. Which is why we felt it was really important to include it as a specific area that we teach.

But that meant our strapline “Maths and English Tuition” didn’t really reflect everything that we do anymore. We think the broader “MagiKats Tuition Centres” is more representative of what we now do.

Why a rebrand is important

“A business brand is a really important part of any business. Your brand makes your business instantly recognisable, distinguishable and memorable. It should also reflect your business personality and values, and this is done using different colours, fonts, designs and styles.

Your brand can also affect how people perceive your business and it can help build awareness of your business and brand. It can even generate a sense of loyalty, trust and pride between you and your clients.

A redesign of your website also often signals an opportunity to give your business a thorough audit, checking all your marketing materials are up to date and relevant, revisiting your values and objectives and checking your processes are still working well.

A new website, with a logo that has also been updated, sends out an important message to potential customers. It shows that you care about and are investing in your website and business, and that everything on it is up to date,” explained Barbara.

MagiKats Tuition Centres

We’re really pleased with the results of our rebrand. It’s not too radical and builds on our established reputation and image. It’s friendly and fun for the younger children but we can also drop the cat if we want to appeal to the teenage market. We hope you love it as much as we do, and we’d love to have your feedback and comments.