MacIntyre Academies Trust

The brief

MacIntyre Academies Trust, sponsored by the disability and autism charity MacIntyre, supports young people in special schools and alternative provision. Communitas was commissioned to create the Trust's brand identity, and a marketing and communications strategy to launch the Trust and build awareness and relationships with key stakeholders, including Local Authorities, parents and other specialist providers. 

Our response

With a clear brief that the Trust's logo needed to closely reflect that of its parent charity, we looked for other ways to bring the MacIntyre Academies identity to life. Working very closely with the trust team and the parent charity we developed the Trust brand around the concept of a welcoming, inclusive figure ('Matt') who would act as both a friendly face and a guide through the online and written materials.

We desgined and built a new website as the first deliverable to feature Matt, using him to direct users to enter the website via clear sections aimed at families, Local Authorities and partner organisations. This was followed by a complete suite of multi academy trust signage, stationery and other marketing and information materials. 

With a strong website to signpost people to we recommended a marketing and communications strategy rooted in leveraging the expertise and brand awareness of the Trust's parent charity in the first instance. We recommended key audiences for the Trust to engage with such as Local Authorities looking to partner with an SEN provider, struggling SEN schools considering conversion and good and outstanding schools looking to join a Trust. Our recommended channels included media relations, both national and local, as well as speaking opportunities to enable the new CEO to establish the Trust as a credible partner. Throughout the process of setting up and launching the new Trust we worked closely with the CEO, providing strategic advice on areas and opportunities for growth.

The Trust reported that its website was well-received by Local Authorities and other SEN providers, as well as parents and students.