In the same year that our very own student-led television station, SUSUtv, turns ten years old, we caught up with new Station Manager, Alex Smith, to find out why he thinks you should give SUSUtv a go. 

Now although I only became a member of SUSUtv at the beginning of last year, I have truly found it to be one of the greatest experiences I’ve had at university. Here is exactly why you should become a member of your Union’s TV Station!

Firstly, you get the chance to make exactly what you want and are given the opportunity to investigate … Read the rest

The brand review discussion started back in June last year. To ensure follow the right process and have the right expertise, we decided in December to appoint Holdens’ branding agency to carry out a review of the SUSU brand.

Holdens’ is one of Manchester’s leading creative agencies and brings a wealth of experience to the project, having previously rebranded Manchester Metropolitan University Students’ Union and worked with a variety of companies such as Kellogg’s, Manchester United, SWI and The Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

We carried out a detailed consultation process which involved students, staff and University partners. We ran surveys … Read the rest

As promised in our last rebrand update, the Facebook event announcing the launch of the new brand is up and the big reveal is just around the corner!

We want to make sure that as many of you are involved in seeing the new brand as possible, so we have arranged to have launches at both Southampton and Winchester – make sure you get down to one of them for what promises to be a great and no doubt, emosh day!

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BRAND LAUNCH AT THE UNION, WINCHESTER
★ Monday 16 May
★ Tuesday 17 May

See the Brand … Read the rest

Since December we have been working on a review and now a rebrand of SUSU.

It’s been quite a journey! We’ve completed surveys and workshops involving both staff members and yourselves and we’ve made visits to Holdens’ branding agency in Manchester to discuss some interesting concepts discussed along the way.

Since our last update, Holdens’ have been working on getting together a set of branding guidelines to help us implement the new brand. This includes how to use the brand in order to reinforce who we are based on everything we learned during our consultation process, which saw 10% … Read the rest

It’s official: we’ve moved from a brand review to a full-on rebrand. It probably feels like we started this journey a lifetime ago, but we’re finally on the home stretch to revealing the new look of your Students’ Union, and trust us – it’s much better than the ‘brand’ we unveiled for April Fools’!

Since our last update, our team and Holdens’ branding agency have been working hard to develop the initial brand route that was voted on at Union Council.

And now for the exciting bit. We’ll be getting a look at the next stage of … Read the rest

If you fell foul of our April Fools’ prank earlier today, let us reassure you that as great as the faux-brand is, the actual brand will be much more comprehensive!

Interestingly, according to Peter Holden who works for Holden’s Agency, Southampton is well-known for its sea kale exports. Therefore the faux-brand has been inspired by the city’s maritime heritage.

Look out for more information about the next stage of the REAL brand coming soon!

 … Read the rest

As you may know, for the last few months we have been in the midst of a rebrand. We appointed Manchester-based branding agency Holdens’ to work with us on the new brand concepts using the Ted’s Talks, branding workshops and a survey which received 2,562 responses to gain your views.

According to your feedback, the new brand needed to reflect who we are. So we paid particular attention to the history of Southampton, looking for something as unique as the Union is, and when we came across the story of sea-kale farming and export from the city, we knew we’d … Read the rest

As Wessex Scene turns eighty years old, the Editor, Bridie Pearson-Jones, has completed her first Union blog takeover to tell us about the history of the SUSU and its student media through the ages. Get in touch with your comments @yoursusu, or contact Bridie directly at editor@soton.ac.uk.

This year has been historic for SUSU. All of its student groups sitting in the Creative Industries Zone have significant birthdays – Wessex Scene turned 80, Union Films turned 50, Surge turned 40, SUSUtv is turning 10, and the Edge 5. SUSU is reviewing their brand this year, after years of apathy … Read the rest

As some of you may now be aware, this year your Students’ Union is embarking on a significant review of some of its key areas. The project, which will be known as ‘Union Upgrade’, will include a review of the following:

• SUSU Brand
• Democracy
• Volunteering
• Student Communities (including International review, Halls Committee review and WSA review)

We are run by students, for students, but we want to go that step further and ensure that every single one of you is involved in how we are run.

Therefore, the Union Upgrade is taking place in line with our Vision 2020, … Read the rest