Kylemore Abbey: Branding An Abbey - Download MS Word file

Introduction

Kylemore Abbey is the only Irish Abbey for the Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Regarded as one of Ireland’s most romantic buildings, Kylemore Abbey is nestled at the base of Duchruach Mountain (1,736 ft) on the northern shore of Lough Pollacappul, in the heart of the Connemara mountains. Today, the Abbey is the monastic home of the Irish Benedictine Nuns who devote themselves to the monastic life of prayer and work.

The Benedictine Nuns came to Kylemore in 1920. In 1914, during World War I, the Nuns had reluctantly fled their Abbey in Ypres, Belgium after it had been bombed. A classic mansion in an area of unsurpassed beauty, Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 by Mr. Mitchell Henry, surgeon, politician and financier, as a gift for his wife, Margaret Vaughan." The castle’s neo-gothic architecture displays all of the decorative features of a building of that period.

The Order of St. Benedict has a 1,500-year tradition of hospitality and in keeping with this calling, the Nuns have always welcomed visitors. The Nuns have graciously opened the estate to the education and enjoyment of all who visit, developing excellent facilities as well as conserving the many historical features.

Branding an Abbey

Bridgette Brew is the Marketing & Development Manager at Kylemore Abbey. She was employed by Sister Magdalena to oversee Kylemore Abbey’s marketing strategy and to advance its branding policy. Over the last four years, Bridgette has contributed to the evolution of Kylemore Abbey’s brand strategy and image. However, branding an Abbey, and its associated enterprises, is not an easy task and it needs to be managed with great care and consideration. Bridgette recognises that the main purpose of the branding strategy is to promote the trading (i.e. commercial) aspects of the Nuns’ initiatives. However, she is mindful that it must also reflect the spiritual aspects, of the Nuns’ communal life.

Bridgette’s main objective is to find a way to manage successfully, the brand and corporate image for a diverse product portfolio. The Benedictine Community has asked Bridgette to advise them on the strategic development of the Kylemore Abbey brand. Bridgette reviews her files and traces the evolution of Kylemore Abbey and its branding strategy, so she may recommend to the Nuns how the brand should progress.

Kylemore Abbey’s Commercial Enterprises

The Community at Kylemore Abbey consists of 25 nuns, and among themselves, they manage a complex web of activities. Sister Rosario is the headmistress of the international boarding and day school. Sister Benedict manages the gardens and the farm, which includes a small dairy herd and a bull named Myles. Sister Josephine works in the craft shops and Sister Bernard bakes for the restaurants. Sister Magdalena is the Community’s Bursar and is responsible for the general management of the Community’s trading (i.e. commercial) activities, and which encompasses the following:

• Abbey Tour - The Visitor Centre shows a video on the past and present life of Kylemore. Visitors are invited to tour the grounds, view the exhibitions in the Abbey reception rooms, and visit the recently restored Gothic Church, which is a beautiful miniature cathedral.

• Restaurant and Tea-Rooms All the catering facilities within Kylemore Abbey serve home-cooked food and some of the produce comes from the Abbey’s farm and garden. The Nuns of Kylemore are known for their culinary expertise and take great care in preparing their meals and repast. They believe, according to the Rule of St. Benedict, that good food is God’s gift to us, and the sharing of food creates community.

• Craft/Gift Shops - The main craft shop is located near the Abbey and the Visitor Centre. A smaller gift shop has recently opened on the grounds of the Walled Victorian Garden. Sister Magdalena and her team of buyers for the craft shops, strive to offer a select range of unique, high-quality, handcrafted products as well as the Abbey’s own range of pottery and home-made food products such as jams, jellies, chutney garnishes, cakes, and puddings.

• Pottery - The pottery offers a unique opportunity for visitors to purchase a distinctive range of ceramic products made in the studio. Kylemore pottery, crafted on-site at the Abbey, is sold exclusively through the Abbey gift shops.

• Fishery - Kylemore Abbey Fishery consists of the Kylemore, Middle and Castle Lakes, with five-and-a-half miles of the Dawros River that enters the sea at Ballynakill Bay. Some of the greatest assets of the fishery are the open panorama of the lakes, the variety of fishing, the spawning streams, and the stunning scenery. Fishing permits can be bought at the Visitor Centre.

• Walled Victorian Garden - Mitchell Henry’s six acre walled garden was recently restored and opened to the public in 2000. The advent of the Great Gardens of Ireland Restoration Scheme made EU funds available, making it feasible to restore the gardens to their original splendour. Kylemore Abbey Garden is one of the largest walled gardens in the country and the Nuns aim to make it a botanical centre of excellence.

• 19^th Century Model Farm - The Nuns intend to recreate Mitchell Henry’s farm and offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience a fully functioning 19^th century farm, demonstrating farming techniques typical of the period. The Nuns will also restore the more unusual features that Mitchell Henry, a man of progressive Victorian ideas, employed in his agricultural and horticultural experiments. One such development was a multifunctional turbine, powered by water from Lough Tougher, and which provided energy for an automated sawmill, a mechanical washer for vegetables, and a mechanical grinder for meal and wheat. It is anticipated that restoration of the farm will be finished by the year 2010.

Kylemore Abbey’s Customers

Kylemore Abbey receives over 200,000 visitors per annum. Nationally, Kylemore Abbey is ranked among the top 12 attractions nationally and the number 1 tourism attraction in the West of Ireland. With respect to customers, it is believed that visitors to Kylemore Abbey will plateau around 250,000 - 275,000 visitors per annum. This expected stabilisation in visitors is an opportunity for the consolidation of efforts. Furthermore, the Benedictine Nuns have made a strategic decision to limit growth to ensure that the high calibre of products and services is maintained. In this respect, the management team within Kylemore Abbey aim to invest further in staff training, customer service, quality and cultivating the ‘right’ customer by offering them the ‘right’ product.

Currently, about half of Kylemore Abbey’s visitors are from coaches touring the Connemara area and the other half are fly-drive customers from Shannon and Dublin airports who are driving around the West and Connemara. Typically, these are mature customers who seek a quality product and who appreciate Kylemore Abbey’s beautiful natural environment, superb catering and shopping facilities. Essentially, these are customers who are seeking a ‘unique experience’.

Kylemore Abbey’s Branding & Corporate Identity

Bridgette Brew is aware that for many consumers a brand is a landmark, facilitating trade. It encapsulates identity, origin and distinction. In general, she finds that consumers are increasingly sophisticated and want to know more about a product before they make a purchase or visit a tourism destination. Bridgette believes that the main undertaking for Kylemore Abbey is to manage the brand and corporate image for a diverse product portfolio. The qualities that the Kylemore Abbey brand communicates most strongly are upmarket, home-made, unique, high quality (i.e. ingredients & materials), Irish, traditional, reliable and thoughtful. An issue remains as to how to develop this concept and communicate it to customers successfully, thereby enhancing the brand further and without diluting its value.

Bridgette reviewed the evolution of the Kylemore Abbey brand over the last few decades. In the late 70’s the brand logo was essentially the castle and a mediaeval letter ‘K’ in a dark navy colour on a cream coloured background (see Exhibit 1). In the early 80’s, the brand logo retained its simplicity, although the castle and ‘mediaeval K’ were updated slightly and the main colours were changed to dark green and cream (see Exhibit 1).

In the early 1990’s, Kylemore Abbey’s brand altered dramatically. As a result of developing the story-boards for the exhibition in the recently restored Abbey reception rooms and the main hall, the architect developed a stunning logo for use in signage. The logo availed of the castle’s silhouette in shades of green and grey. This striking logo became the destination logo and was used in all the road signs leading visitors to Kylemore Abbey (see Exhibit 2) and in signage throughout the estate. Eventually it was incorporated in all of Kylemore Abbey’s other literature (see Exhibit 3) and products (see Exhibit 4). In time, it became apparent that there were problems in reducing the logo for its use in product labels. Reproduction of the logo on a small scale was of a lesser quality than the Nuns would have desired. It was also felt that the integrity of the logo was being diminished.

By the late 1990’s, Bridgette was employed to manage Kylemore Abbey’s marketing strategy and to advance its branding policy. She understood that developing a brand logo was a long-term investment. Furthermore, she recognised that an effective logo was strategic in developing a differentiated position within the tourism market. Bridgette believed that the castle silhouette, developed in the early 90’s had been quite successful. Indeed, it was still effective for signage - its intended purpose, but not viable for product labelling. However, she was reluctant to abandon the castle silhouette completely as the logo still held significant brand equity with tour operators and visitors. Hence, it was decided to retain its use in signage and in communicating with tour operators and to develop a new logo for branding Kylemore Abbey’s handmade products and gifts.

In developing the product logo, careful consideration was given to the use of signs and symbols and their associated meanings. Many of the Nuns believed that although the castle was an important feature of the Kylemore Abbey estate, it did reflect the monastic aspect of the Abbey. Furthermore, many were uncomfortable with the castle as being the only symbol of identification for Kylemore Abbey. A number of possible logos were developed and tested. Criteria for assessment were that the new logo had to reflect Kylemore Abbey’s heritage, the Benedictine Nuns’ monastic life, and the natural beauty of the location.

The new product logo is shown in Exhibit 5. Through its shape, the logo depicts the towers, turrets and gothic windows of the castle. The dove embodies the Nuns’ monastic life, and is perceived as being neither ‘too religious’ nor ‘too masculine’. Furthermore, the dove has the advantage of being the international symbol of peace, which is also the motto (i.e. Pax) of the Benedictine order. The logo ‘sat’ on a faint image of the castle, nestled in between the mountains and the lake. The new logo’s link with the castle is vital as, up until this point, it has been the main symbol of identification for Kylemore Abbey . Eventually, it should be possible for the logo to stand on its own - without the faint image of the castle (see Exhibit 7). Finally, the logo has been tested on a number of media (e.g. letterhead, labels, stickers, bags, pins, and fleeces), and in a number of sizes to ensure that the logo would maintain its reproduction quality. With the new product logo, it is possible to differentiate among product lines through the use of colour. The mid-range handmade products were displayed with green labels, where as the more exclusive handmade products are displayed with gold and black labels (see Exhibit 6).

Future Evolution

The new product logo has been received with enthusiasm and since its inception sales have increased in every product category. Furthermore, the new logo has succeeded in embedding the dove as an emblem of Kylemore Abbey. To reinforce this symbolism, the Bridgette Brew developed a ‘Millennium Peace Pin’ in the shape of a dove, which was to be given to others as a token of friendship and peace. A faint image of the dove is also used as the background for the Kylemore Abbey website. The dove is taking greater prominence in Kylemore Abbey’s literature (see Exhibit 7). In fact, there is some discussion as to whether, in the future, the dove should become the principal symbol of Kylemore Abbey. Addressing this issue elicits other questions, such as, whether the destination logo (i.e. castle silhouette) should be maintained or abandoned? How would you advise Bridgette Brew in developing Kylemore Abbey’s future branding and corporate identity policy?

1. How important is an image of the castle for Kylemore Abbey’s brand?
2. What brand values do you believe should be communicated to customers?
3. Outline a branding policy for Kylemore Abbey.

By Ann M Torres, Department of Marketing, NUI, Galway

Exhibit 2: Kylemore Abbey’s Destination Logo in the Early 90’s

Exhibit 3: Kylemore Abbey’s Destination Logo as Applied to Letterhead

Exhibit 4: Kylemore Abbey’s Destination Logo as Applied to Product Labels

Exhibit 5: Kylemore Abbey’s Product Logo in the Late 90’s

Exhibit 6: Kylemore Abbey’s Product Logo as Applied to Labels

Exhibit 7: Kylemore Abbey’s Dove and Product Logos