.In September, one of the UK's largest nursery chains announced a decision to change its name. Nurseryworks and Kinderquest in England and Red Apple in Scotland are now grouped together under the umbrella of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Europe, the US company that took over the three chains in recent years.
Rebranding decisions like this are now familiar in today's business world.
Last month, Abbey National rebranded as Abbey in an attempt to get a new image and gain business in consumer banking. Such a move will cost the company millions but it could be essential to future growth. With mergers becoming common among nursery chains, they face the similar challenges of presenting a united brand without diminishing the role of a local nursery in the community.
United approach
Bright Horizons has had to balance keeping the local feel and individual business environments of each of its locations with the benefits that a unified brand can deliver. The group has resisted renaming its nurseries until recently, says Susan Hay, chairman of Bright Horizons Family Solutions Europe.
'We are concerned about retaining our identity geographically,' she says.
'We recognised the importance of operating with a culture in a sensitive way - it was not right to change the name suddenly. It did not make commercial sense before now, but in order to rally everybody within the company and develop a united view - and our philosophy going forward - we need to have one brand.'
As well as presenting this philosophy to parents, it also helps to have consistent branding when dealing with business-sponsored childcare. Some businesses were even tendering to more than one company in the group, Ms Hay says. 'On a practical level it was getting silly. It was important that in recruitment and to (business) clients we were seen as one.'
But although Bright Horizons is now a unified brand, the company's approach is far from strict or dictatorial. Nurseries can retain their original names, while 'managed by Bright Horizons' will remain in the background.
'The understanding from all out there, both staff and parents, is that our experience and resources are deep and broad and everybody knows they are dealing with one organisation,' Ms Hay says. 'It is global experience combined with local integrity - there is no way that we want to diminish the local presence or the local people. It is critical to the way we want to develop.
'For the parents nothing has changed - they are dealing with the same people. What has changed is more in the background - more support for staff, training and career opportunities.'
Similarly business clients are offered a choice of how they want to present the childcare environment they are funding. Bright Horizons is flexible on elements of branding such as staff uniforms. 'Because many nurseries are employer sponsored, they may have a view on branding. Some are healthcare providers and they tend to wear the same uniforms. The uniform is not our brand - it is really the beliefs and the philosophy.'
Business decisions
Ms Hay believes that awareness of branding is becoming increasingly important to nursery chains as mergers and acquisitions continue in the sector. 'It has changed because of funding from venture capital and serious finance. Obviously people involved have serious business heads and understand that you base success on the brand.'
Although most nursery chains are agreed on the increasing importance of branding, they do not all choose to manage it in the same way. Nicky Jurkschat, marketing manager at The Childcare Corporation, says, 'Everybody (in nursery chains) has become more brand savvy. The majority have a marketing department whereas ten years ago it would be a childcare professional that had moved up to manage the nursery.'
But, unlike Bright Horizons, The Childcare Corporation has chosen not to unite under a single brand. It manages three brands - The Childcare Corporation to project a commercial image to business clients and financiers, while parents see Kiddi Caru for its new purpose-built nurseries and Carey Days for its acquired sites.
Ms Jurkschat says that while care standards are the same in both nurseries, the company wanted to create special recognition for its new centres. It was able to consult nursery managers to help in the design to create a childcare environment it believes is unique without the disadvantage of adapting older buildings. 'We want the brand to grow and grow,' she says.
The emphasis in the Carey Days chain is on care, quality and staff. 'At the end of the day you can offer the best facilities, but if you do not have the best staff then parents go with their gut feeling,' Ms Jurkschat says.
'If parents do not feel comfortable to leave their child then they will not.'
The Childcare Corporation's nursery managers make parents aware that both Carey Days and Kiddi Caru are under the same management, particularly if the parents are considering moving to another area.
The Childcare Corporation is an umbrella brand and not promoted to parents.
'On the business-to-business side we push The Childcare Corporation, that was always the plan. We find with The Childcare Corporation, the name helps in dealing with other companies and investors. It has worked well and is evolving,' says Ms Jurkschat.
Comfort factor
In some cases the owners of a nursery chain may have as distinctive a brand as the chain itself. Teddies Nurseries, which runs 41 nurseries in the south of England, is owned by Bupa, probably the UK's best-known brand in private healthcare. Jeanne Barczewska, Teddies childcare policy and development manager, says the chain strives to get the most from both brands. 'Some parents know the Teddies brand - we did not want to lose that, but Bupa also represents something in people's minds. Bupa is about caring and that is for people that are well, as well as when they are poorly. But we think parents do not make the decision on a nursery until they see what it is like at the local level.'
After Bupa bought the Teddies chain it questioned the chain's staff about branding. 'They wanted to keep it as Teddies - it was the comfort factor and continuity that's quite important,' Ms Barczewska says.
Employee involvement remains important in branding. Teddies recently ran a staff competition to find a new teddy bear for its company logo. Uniforms, signage, colour schemes and the 'smile approach to learning' are all branded across the whole group although there is room for some variation, Ms Barczewska says. 'Branding definitely helps when people go from one area to the other. They see the sign and they know they will be happy with it, but nurseries are still individual at a local level because customer needs vary.'
Great expectations
As nurseries become more commercialised, branding is a challenge few nursery chains can ignore. Branding expert Lesley Salem, insight director of FutureBrand, says that working parents are now very brand-aware and are prepared to spend over the odds for childcare at a chain whose image fits with their expectations. 'You have to have a distinctive set of values and a unique selling point within your market,' she says.
For any nursery it is important that the brand projects a sense of trust, quality of care and good security. However, that will not be enough to make a business stand out in a crowded marketplace. 'Any nursery has to have those,' Ms Salem says. 'You need to have a philosophy as well. Some may choose a relaxed and flexible one, while others may prefer a philosophy that is more disciplined. It depends on what set of parents you are trying to appeal to and what their values are.'
Nursery chains can try to make the translation of a national brand into a strong local reputation by making sure the nurseries are engaged with local community activities and incorporating local landmarks in the nursery's decor.
The challenge of getting the branding right looks set to continue. In September Princess Christian Nurseries, owned by Nord Anglia, announced a 3.2m takeover of Petits Enfants. Time will tell if the smaller chain will manage to retain its identity or become part of a bigger brand. nc
