I respectfully disagree. At Stamats and in the offices of so many of our clients, art is an essential part of the physical environment. Though the periods and styles may vary, art is a touchstone that adds dimension to the workday and connects people in powerful (and quite productive) ways.

Artwork at Work: 5 Benefits

When we talk about art in the workplace, it’s important to distinguish between original pieces by independent artists and the corporate “motivational art” that was so popular in the mid-1990s. We’ll cover the former here. The latter is best left to the annals of passé trends.

So, let’s begin. If you think artwork and hard work don’t mix, give me a few minutes to try to change your mind. Here are five benefits of art in the workplace:

1. Supports Brand and Organizational Values

Compelling artwork can communicate volumes in mere seconds. Its immediate visual impact can be used to reinforce an organization’s brand, reflect its values, and convey the energy and emotion behind its mission.

But beyond aesthetics, art in the workplace shows that management cares about the built environment and takes pride in what they do. In this way, art elevates both the employee and the client experience.

2. Promotes Social Interaction

Art often serves as a crossroads or gathering place, helping team members transcend organizational hierarchies and departmental divisions. These art-filled communal spaces encourage chance encounters, conversation, and collaboration.

When Charles Schwab opened its new 50-acre Austin campus in 2018, employees that were scattered across the metro had a new home base. To help build community, the company commissioned a large-scale monofilament sculpture by Venezuelan artist Ender Martos.

Entitled Graceful Celestial Vernal Equinox II, Martos’ sculpture isn’t merely a focal point in the new space, it’s a memorable shared experience for Schwab’s 1200 regional employees.

3. Boosts Morale and Productivity

Since so many of us spend the majority of our day at the office, it’s easy to understand how engaging art can enrich a space and in turn, energize our days.

An article in The Guardian explores how Deutsche Bank leverages its 60,000-piece art collection to inspire employees. According to Friedhelm Hütte, global head of art at Deutsche Bank, “Art offers a window into the social, political and economic aesthetics around the world and this makes it a good inspirational fit for our business because we live on developing new ideas for clients and reacting to what is happening in the world.”

4. Inspires Creative Thinking

In all its forms, art offers us a pause — that rare mental and emotional respite in a harried and over-scheduled day. And aren’t some of our best ideas are born out of pauses?

Painting, sculpture, fiber art, and kinetic pieces all challenge us to stop, to think in new ways, and approach challenges with an innovative spirit. Though we may not even register it consciously, creative spaces feed our individual creativity.

5. Keeps Employees Engaged

Of course, what we’re talking about here is the connection between environment and attitude. Organizations strive to create to offices that are safe, convenient, comfortable, and designed to bring out the very best in their people. Though the effects of art may seem intangible at times, they are no less fundamental to organizational success.

Think of art as an interactive backdrop. Every innovation, conversation, strategy, and success happens around it (and sometimes because of it). Choose art carefully, invite conversations about it, and discover what it can add to your workplace.

Interested in developing your brand and building high-performing marketing teams? Call or email to learn more about our services.

Here’s an example: If I were to say, “Let’s grab a cup of coffee on the way to the office,” the brand most likely to come to mind is Starbucks or Dunkin’. And without too much thought, you’d likely begin to navigate to the nearest location. That’s because both brands have evolved beyond awareness and become salient to consumers. They’re not merely top-of-mind; they’re the probable choice when it matters most.

Of course, brand salience doesn’t happen by chance. Getting there requires strategic thinking and focused tactics that (1) expand and deepen brand awareness, (2) create positive brand memories in audiences’ minds, and (3) position the brand as a de facto shorthand for the product or service offered (Starbucks=coffee, Nike=athletic apparel, GEICO=insurance).

Let’s examine how organizations can take the next step in brand awareness to become not merely one choice among many, but the one obvious choice. Here are three ways to increase brand salience:

Authenticity is everything. Inundated with advertising since birth, today’s audiences are sophisticated marketers in their own right. They’re able to sniff out (and roundly reject) affectation in mere seconds.

To improve saliency, understand the truth of your brand. What do you do better than anyone else? What attributes can you authentically own in the marketplace?

Guided by a clear understanding of what makes your brand distinct, push the envelope a bit. Develop new — even unexpected — marketing campaigns that elevate your brand attributes and inspire your audiences.

Make an emotional connection. In a sea of sameness, does your brand stand out? If not, it’s time to develop distinctive brand assets that target your audiences on an emotional level.

Remember, your brand is a story. And when properly told, stories take root in our memory. The goal is to create an emotive brand — a product, an experience, a relationship — that’s inseparable from its stories.

The more emotional space your brand occupies in the minds of your audiences, the more likely it will be the reflexive choice during crucial moments of conversion.

We’re living in an age of technological wonder. Every day, new communication methods are connecting people across the globe. Use that momentum to engage with your audiences in creative and memorable ways.

If you haven’t already, explore ways your brand can leverage video storytelling, vlogging, podcasting, and augmented reality experiences. Expand your presence on new social media channels to grow your audience and reinforce your brand’s immediacy and relevance.

At Stamats, we believe brands are alive — constantly shaped and reshaped by people, experiences, and relationships. From insightful brand strategy to compelling brand design, we can help unleash the full power of your brand. Email us to get started.

Thankfully, those dire predictions aren’t borne out by evidence. In his 2016 article for MarketingProfs, Nicholas Brown wrote, “The more our lives are influenced by digital media, the more we are drawn to print as a retreat from online space.”  

Catalogs, magazines, brochures and postcards still play a central role in brand-building, customer acquisition and audience engagement. Why? Because the more our lives are filled with digital communication, the more we crave respite from it.  

Print offers a retreat―a way to continue and deepen engagement when we put our devices down. In fact, during these moments, we’re often less distracted and far more relaxed and receptive. For businesses today, the choice isn’t binary: Digital instead of print should be reframed as digital integrated with print.  

The 4 Powers of Print 

We’ve all heard the refrain countless times: “The medium is the message.” And the logic behind that truism applies inside and outside the digital world. The advantages of print make it ideal for a wide range of messaging. Here are four of its most important benefits: 

1. It’s sensory. 

The weight and texture of the paper, the saturation of the ink and the rich detail of images can make print compelling and immersive. Together, these physical qualities are able to create unique brand moments that simply can’t be matched digitally. 

In this way, it’s especially appealing to tactile learners―those who experience the world primarily through touch and movement. When it’s time to make a decision (buy, register, enroll, etc.), they prefer the physical interaction of a print product. 

2. It comes with fewer distractions.

The sheer power of our digital tools demands us to make a tradeoff―convenience in exchange for constant distraction. As you’re reading this, you’re probably being presented with pop-up ads and incoming emails, text messages and meeting notifications. That same degree of intrusion doesn’t apply to print.  

Research from TrueImpact, a neuromarketing research firm, shows that reading print requires 21% less cognitive effort than reading on a screen. Typically, readers are able to settle into printed material and digest it on a deeper level.  

3. It is slow (in a good way).

With fewer messages vying for our attention, printed material can be experienced more slowly (which often means more thoroughly). Who hasn’t dog-eared a magazine or catalog, set it aside, and picked it up again later? For marketers, that tendency to keep and savor printed material translates into more durable and potentially more valuable engagement.  

4. Print is trusted. 

Culture matters. The printed word carries with it the weight of history and tradition. While I’m not suggesting that digital media is anything less than trustworthy, print has a certain implicit credibility and cache. Used properly, the very medium itself can help businesses reinforce their messages and enrich their brands.  

Digital media has revolutionized how the world communicates, but it hasn’t displaced print. Instead, it has repositioned it. Print is the break we take. It’s what we see when we look up from our devices. It’s what we linger over. As part of a well-integrated multi-channel campaign, it can spark new interactions between your brand and your most valued audiences. In my next post, I’ll explore tactical ways to integrate print and digital so both become more effective response-generating tools. 

From brand strategy to content and creative development, Stamats helps business tap into the power of print. Let’s connect and explore how print can improve conversion, enrich your brand and move your goals forward. For more information, please contact us.

Sky Lodge is a rustic getaway that invokes the call of the wild. Tucked in Moose River Valley, it encompasses over 150 acres. The outdoor oasis welcomes groups to escape the office, experience unforgettable adventures and reconnect with nature.

Sky Lodge is owned and operated by Unity College, a higher education institution with a unique emphasis on environmental stewardship. The resort is two hours from the main college campus and 25 miles from the Canadian border.

Groups seeking a Western retreat experience—without the often-high price tag—can satisfy both desires at Sky Lodge. Unity College President Melik Khoury says, “If you look at pricing of similar places in Wyoming and Montana, for example, we are about half the price.”

Trending Up: Higher Ed Venues and Additional Revenue Streams

Khoury says that Sky Lodge enhances Unity College’s revenue stream as a full-service resort, in addition to being woven into the student curriculum. It’s just one example of how higher education organizations are using their venues in a more entrepreneurial way.

“We use Sky Lodge for educational endeavors, like our sustainable business and eco-tourism programs, freshman experiences and community-based learning,” Khoury said. “It’s part of the college, and students have access to it. But it also further enhances the revenue stream. It’s a dual operating system.”

This isn’t uncommon anymore—various higher education organizations are creating revenue in similar fashions: Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They, for example, own The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, which is a luxury hotel open to the public and operated by students in its hospitality program.

Similarly, Unity College students will have a hand in the operations of Sky Lodge.

“We see Sky Lodge as a significant opportunity for all students in all majors, but especially those in our newest major, Sustainable Business Enterprise. Students will not only study how to run a business, but they will actually get to do it,” explained Khoury in a release in 2018 following the donation of Sky Lodge to Unity College.

Experiences for Every Attendee

Outdoor enthusiasts will revel in the expanse of offerings at Sky Lodge. The property is home to museums and trails for hiking, skiing and a plethora of outdoor activities.

“We do snowmobiling, white-water rafting and hiking,” Khoury said, naming off just a few of the unique teambuilding options available on the property. “We have an adventure program so we can teach cross-country skiing and fly-fishing.”

Additionally, Sky Lodge is near to mountain hiking trails, golf courses and Moxie Falls—one of the highest falls in New England. The staff can help arrange activities like hunting, guided hikes, horseback riding and scenic float plane excursions with local partners.

For attendees that would rather relax with co-workers over a meal, Sky Lodge opened its restaurant—The Mountain View Dining Room—in January 2020. The venue is open for dinner Thursday-Saturday and for brunch on the weekends.

The Bar & Lounge is open until 9 p.m. Thursday-Sunday as well. Parties of up to 25 people can reserve the private dining room, and banquet and catering services can be arranged.

Meeting Venues and Accommodations at Sky Lodge

Sky Lodge includes a Prohibition-era former huntsman and fishing cabin, as well as a 7,500-square-foot lodge.

The entire property can host 112 people in the summer and 80 people during fall, winter and spring. For larger groups, Khoury says Sky Lodge can partner with other lodging providers in the area.

For meetings groups, the property features four conference space options. The following capacities are quoted for board room style:

• Conference space in the main lodge: Capacity is up to 18. Additional breakout spaces include the lounge, which can host 12 people, and the Great Room, which can hold 20.
• Conference space in the John & Elaine Couri Welcome Center: Can host up to 26
• Moose River Valley Center Conference Room A: Can host up to 50
• Moose River Valley Center Conference Room B: Can host up to 14

Additionally, Khoury pointed to a unique space on the property. “There’s an old runway that’s been transformed into a beautiful green space.” He added that it can be used for outdoor adventure and teambuilding programs, tented events and wedding ceremonies.

For overnight groups, up to 28 guests can comfortably stay at the lodge. Private groups of eight or more can reserve the lodge. There are a variety of accommodations on the property to choose from:

• Three cabins: Each can comfortably board three people, with three double beds
• “Annex” rooms: Dorm-style spaces that each feature a double bed with a private bathroom and a small porch.
• Three houses:
  • Four-bedroom 1800s Country House
  • Luxury four-bedroom Trails Ends House
  • Secluded Mountain View House

Good to Know Before You Go

How to Get to Sky Lodge

Sky Lodge is also about 20-minute drive from the Canadian border, located in the town of Moose River, Maine. The resort is 54 miles from the main Unity College campus—a two-hour drive.

Bangor International Airport is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive. Portland and New Gloucester, Maine, are also drivable, roughly three hours away.

How Far in Advance Should I Book?

Khoury recommends a three-month advance notice for corporate groups or large bookings of more than 20 people. Weddings should book at least one year out.

What’s the Best Time of Year for Groups?

High season varies widely across the different types of groups. Khoury notes that after Sky Lodge’s first year open to corporate groups under Unity College, intrigue has already doubled.

Corporate groups can book the lodge year-round. Availability of some teambuilding activities is weather dependent, such as snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.

The Sporting History of Sky Lodge

Sky Lodge was gifted to Unity College in 2017, and officially took over the property July 1, 2018. The multimillion-dollar gift came from the Couri Foundation, and is one of the largest in Unity College’s history.

Prior to its donation, Sky Lodge was owned and operated by Elaine and John Couri of the Couri Foundation. The couple established the foundation in 1988 and used Sky Lodge for programs to help deserving children get connected to nature, programs for seniors, seminars for graduate students and other services.

Sky Lodge’s story dates to the early 20th century though, built in 1929 as a sporting getaway for a New York executive, and then purchased and renamed “Sky Lodge” by two former World War II airmen in the 1940s.

The main lodge has been restored over the past decade to its original state and giving it the makings for memorable corporate and executive retreats. This while still maintaining its outdoor sporting legacy that has kept it beloved by adventurists through the years.

For New England-based groups looking for a corporate retreat in some of Maine’s most expansive inland wilderness—without sacrificing meetings amenities—Sky Lodge is worth a look.

Connect with Unity College’s Sky Lodge:
(207) 668-2171
https://skylodge.unity.edu

When it comes to building your brand and creating content, solid writing is just part of the equation. In a world of new media platforms, increased competition, and decreased attention spans, savvy marketers are changing their strategies to create content that converts.

Start with these four tips to adjust the way you tell your brand story. You can also create a personalized content strategy for your institution with the help of our experts.

4 Steps to Successful Content Creation in 2020

1. Research your audience—Who is interested?

This first step is the most important. If you don’t know your audience, you’ll never be able to communicate with them effectively.

A common mistake is to oversimplify. Your audience can’t be everyone in the entire world, after all.

Take this example. You’re targeting traditional prospective students. You already know this ranges from high schoolers to young adults, around ages 16 to 24. This is still a large group—you’ll want to consider what makes you unique and ask some questions to learn who is most interested in your school.

Maybe you don’t offer on-campus housing. You’ll then know to cater your content to students in the surrounding area. Maybe you are a religiously affiliated school. Your audience may be more likely to be of that faith and interested in a values-driven education.

Thinking about academics, athletics, student life, flexibility, location, cost, and more, can all help you cultivate personas for your content.

2. Brainstorm content—What are they looking for?

Now that you know who is looking for your content, it’s time to think about what they’re seeking. In the content world, quality over quantity wins.

Leverage the personas you created. If you know your audience is likely to be 16- to 24-year-olds who don’t live on campus, you can better understand their needs and interests. They likely want flexibility in classes, easy commuting options, and ways to get involved on campus.

Once you have a few ideas, you may think about researching the way users speak and sprinkle that terminology into your writing. Keywords and relevant phrases help students organically find content on Google; the more relevant the search terms, the higher you will rank on search. In our example, you could consider longer phrases such as “colleges near me” or “colleges for commuters.”

Listen to learn more on keywords and search intent.

3. Set-up delivery—How do they want the content?

You have an idea ready and you’re itching to write. But have you considered other delivery formats? Traditional students today have an eight-second attention span. This means long-form content might not be the best delivery method.

Consider your options. Are you hoping to show prospective students what your campus is like? Make a video! Are you trying to communicate complex tuition information? An infographic could help.

Don’t unnecessarily bog your audience down with paragraphs of content. If you do write content, make it evergreen. This can build long-term search relevance and provide valuable information to your audience.

And most importantly, no matter what avenue you choose—be engaging.

4. Define delivery strategy—How will they find it?

Your content is written; now what? Simply uploading a blog article to your site and waiting won’t cut it.

If you followed step three and crafted content such as video, your natural next step would to be to share your video on YouTube. Consider uploading a snippet of a video on Instagram or teasing out quotes to share on other social platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t yet built up your social media presence (but let this be a reminder that you should). Millennials and Gen Z do pay attention to their email too. Try emailing them a roundup of the content you’ve created. Segment your audience by what interests them and deliver content accordingly.

Implement these strategies to see results

It’s not too late to rethink your current content strategies. In fact, your old content can even be repurposed to align with this checklist. It may take a team of people to help you craft a successful brand strategy, but you’ll see the results in more engaged prospective students.

Ready to jumpstart your brand storytelling goals? Contact us today.

Now more than ever, marketers must strategically consider the public and internal perceptions of their institutional brand. What is the brand story? And are you telling it in a way that matters to your audience?

It will take time to identify areas of opportunity and implement strategies for success. It will also take a shift in mindset to think from your audience’s perspective. But it’s crucial to create a sustainable brand for students, staff, alumni, and stakeholders.

9 Steps to Elevating Your Brand

1. Discover what people think of you now

Conduct some brand market research. What are students and alumni saying about you online? How do key stakeholders and the community perceive you?

You may encounter positive and negative reviews. It’s necessary to read any and all criticism students have so you can understand their needs and make changes accordingly.

2. Move from organization-centric to audience-centric thinking

Your brand is important, but not as important as how your audience views you. Instead of focusing on your products, services, courses, and degree offerings, think about why these options matter to your specific audiences.

Ask yourself: Why should a student earn a degree from you? What does your audience care about and want to see?

If you have trouble answering those questions, go out and ask students. Conduct focus groups and send out surveys to gain valuable insights.

3. Differentiate yourself

Prospective students have never had more options when it comes to their education. It’s time to stand out. Evaluate your current branding. If you replaced your school’s name with another, would your brand still sound authentic?

If so, it’s time to reposition your messaging with what makes your institution different. Why should students be excited to choose you? Start by thinking about why you are passionate about the brand. How you would describe that feeling to someone outside the organization? Then, infuse that emotion into your storytelling and marketing materials.

4. Engage alumni

You may be your institution’s number one fan, but an organization-centric approach leaves out everyone else who would be willing to promote you. Alumni can be great ambassadors with a unique perspective. But often, they aren’t properly segmented out and get lost in the shuffle of generic messaging.

Spend time connecting with your graduates. Who has gone on to achieve success in their field? Have they won awards or prizes, or served as mentors in their community? Would they be willing to connect with prospective students?

A strong alumni network can do wonders for building your reputation and sharing your brand.

5. Educate the public

Community matters. Whether you’re in a large college town or operate completely online, the public wants to know what your organization and staff contribute to society:

• Do your students volunteer?
• Are they available for internships?
• Will you give back to the community in some way?
• How does your institution advance specific disciplines, research, or areas of study?

Start reaching out, even if the public isn’t your direct target audience. Creating positive change outside campus can bring recognition to your brand you otherwise wouldn’t have.

6. Motivate donors

We all rely on donors to fund scholarships, state-of-the art lecture halls and facilities. Even day-to-day maintenance. However, to receive donations, you need to prove your value to potential donors.

You can do this through strategic brand storytelling. Show how donations are being used. Highlight your school’s growth and limitless potential. Convey why donors would be proud to contribute to your school.

7. Support research funding efforts

Tell stories which support research funding opportunities. Not only will you attract ambitious students and top-notch faculty, but you open the door to additional opportunities.

Your students will look to see how they can get involved in their field of study. Highlight the work your faculty is doing and support elements of the strategic research plan. Such as building new labs or hosting scholars-in-residence.

8. Showcase student career opportunities

Your students want to know their investment in your programs will be worthwhile. What are the outcomes? Can they get a job after graduating? What is the average starting salary for graduates in their program of choice?

Reach out to employers to build a robust internship program. Feature career services information on your marketing collateral. Gather alumni testimonials for your website. Therefore, the more successful your students are, the more successful you’ll be.

9. Highlight top students and staff

One way to increase student recruitment outcomes is to highlight your roster of successful faculty, but will students be excited to take classes with your faculty? Are they accessible (i.e. have office hours) to students?

Students want a school that will set them up for success. Look into your retention data and tackle any issues if numbers are declining. Create positive messaging to support retention. Highlight current student successes and share it with prospective students.

A few closing thoughts

Some of these may be easy fixes. Perhaps you’re known for being too expensive, while the real issue is students not understanding your financial aid and scholarship packages. Or maybe you don’t have a dedicated alumni relations coordinator and need to appoint a staff member to support ongoing relationship building with these key stakeholders.

Others may be changes you must make over time, such as creating online courses or increasing commuting options. Therefore, these steps can help you remain relevant and accessible to prospective students.

Contributions to this article by Richie C. Hunter, Vice President of Communications at University of Michigan.

Below are steps Stamats is taking to prepare their brands for the GDPR roll out May 28. I will preface this, as with all things that could get you a hefty penalty, with the caveat that you should run anything you do by your personal attorney and this is just an example of how one publisher is dealing with this new regulation.

If you are not already familiar with the term, the GDPR is a set of data privacy regulations for the EU that will go into effect May 25, 2018

The EU Is Serious About Consumer Protection in General and This is an Extension of That.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and was designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.

—from the European Union Site

The regulation focuses on emails and marketing via email to people who do not already have a relationship with you. The penalties for violations are steep. It has some teeth.

Step 1. 

You need to know where everyone on your email file lives. If you do not know that already, you need to ask them.  We changed all of our forms to require a country code be selected and added conditional logic that if they selected one of the 22 EU countries or Canada a box pops up with overt language that gives us permission to contact their email. We did this back in 2016 to give them plenty of time before we had to take action.

Step 2. 

Anyone you do not know where he or she lives and who has not told you, you need to find out or drop his or her email address from your file. You need to suppress it in some way so not used for any type of unsolicited email.

We targeted European Union and Canadian emails that had not updated since requiring express permission with an email campaign to try to gain permission.  If they didn’t give us permission by updating and checking this box, they don’t get newsletters or other email promotions after May 15.

To support a client, we undertook a project to append data to their homeless emails. You might want to run them through a program like Brite Verify to make sure they are still good emails, however.  Those that returned as valid were sent off to be appended. The list was a 37% match and the project cost them barely $500. The client still has to ask permission from the EU names but at least they can clearly identify whom those people are.

Again, this is something that you might want to run by your attorney—especially the language in the permission check box.

You’ll also need a way to record that permission in a way that you can document the process if needed. We make that easy by hosting all our data in a single, unified database (we do that for clients, too).

Data management is our thing.

Ready to Get Started?

Find out how we utilize a full suite of audience/data strategies and experts to help you enhance your customer’s journey, engagement, opportunities and threats, improve efficiency, and gain a competitive advantage. Email Us.

When done right, a branding campaign should full circle, evolving into an evergreen “way of life” for faculty, staff, and students long after the point of conversion. Consider these three strategies to help extend the life of your next branding endeavor.

In branding campaigns, we often come across two central challenges after determining what should be considered an effective conversion:

1. Navigating audience perceptions of the institution
2. Effectively conveying the full brand and not just the marketing message

1. Navigate Audience Perceptions

Not all audiences have the same understanding of who your institution is and what you are about. A three-tiered messaging approach can help ease into a new or competitive market to introduce, familiarize, and guide key audiences to action.

1. Introduce If you are venturing into a new geographic market or want to reach an audience that has little knowledge of you, first-tier messaging should focus on generating awareness. You want prospective students and their parents to think of your institution and include you on their list of college options.
2. Familiarize As an audience becomes more familiar with you, shift to tier-two messaging. This step is focused on core attributes. At this stage, you want them to think certain things about you in an audience-centric way. This is a “what’s-in-it-for-me” messaging approach in which you can highlight your institution’s differentiators as a benefit to students. For example, does your recently remodeled computer lab offer the latest and greatest tech? Does your cafeteria offer vegan options or safe choices for students who need gluten-free food?
3. Guide Tier-three messaging is more about conversion. The audience knows you and is engaged, and now is the time to direct prospective students to apply, inquire, or perform another key task that aligns with their journey and your goals. This takes you to the point of conversion. But what comes next? When we help colleges develop brand strategies and campaigns, we discuss how the brand will be brought to life on and off campus. Students won’t just engage with the brand—they’ll live it if they feel immersed in and empowered by your college or university. Conveying the full brand beyond the planned messaging will keep your campaign promises evergreen. Thinking about branding from that approach makes it crucial to consider every step of the strategy past the initial launch and communication.

2. Convey the Full Brand

While it’s easy to tell people about your institution, messaging is just the first step. Focusing predominately on messaging and overlooking full implementation can create a brand gap–a disconnect between what you’ve was promised and what the audience ultimately gets. Effective campaigns deliver a lived brand experience. For example, a college might not consider the need for additional staff to monitor social media, email, and phones when running a branding campaign. Or a university might not plan for remarketing or other nurturing programs for students who don’t apply on their first (or second or third) website visit.

These interactions set the stage for your audiences’ ongoing perceptions of your institution. They way they’re treated will resonate long after the wittiness or attraction to your initial campaign wanes. These experiences will lead students to become your institution’s “word of mouth,” relating their experiences to friends, family, social networks, and as community advocates for your organization. Current student and alumni relationship-building is key to increase referrals and enrollment over time.

3. Branding Campaigns Should Come Full Circle

Each stage of a branding campaign requires clear, cohesive, easy-to-navigate conversion points and directives—in your messaging and on the website, particularly those directed at prospective students. But the campaign doesn’t end with conversion. Rather, conversion is just the beginning. After you’ve gained a student’s interest (or better yet, matriculation), the real challenge begins. Will your institution deliver what you’ve promised? Will your lived brand experience live up to the buildup? Make sure this is the case before you launch your next campaign. Schedule a branding and digital strategy consultation with me and kick off a successful campaign. Schedule now.

 

Acting as their institution’s personal branding Jedi knights, members of the task force share essential information with the campus community and provide the president and his/her leadership team with valuable advice and direct feedback from constituents on a host of branding initiatives related to public relations, advancement and fund-raising, and student recruitment.

Duties of a branding task force

Though each task force is unique, the focus, duties, and goals of these groups tend to be consistent across schools. Here are the foundational duties of a branding task force and why each of those duties is crucial to institutional branding success:

• Share Information: The branding task force updates the alliance (i.e., your campus community) regularly about ongoing activities. This serves two purposes: First, it maintains transparency and visibility. Second, it encourages active feedback—an essential component of institution-wide participation in marketing, recruitment, and identity efforts.
• Analyze and Recommend: Serving as a sort of Jedi High Council, part of a branding task force’s duties is to prepare a marketing resource analysis—a review of the combined marketing expenditures in each area of your college or university. Since, no single person at an institution knows the full extent of financial and staff resources devoted to marketing activities, the task force can coordinate with the finance office and individual administrative departments to prepare an analysis of how current marketing resources are allocated. It can then make recommendations to leadership on how best to achieve institutional branding goals.
• Audit Communications: Information is your lightsaber; wield it with skill and purpose. An effective branding task force should review communications every 12 months to determine the consistency of primary branding messages and of brand identity symbols. Offices usually involved in a communications audit include admissions, advancement, alumni relations, public relations, athletics, and the president’s office. When the review is complete, the task force can share results with the president, the leadership team, and the broader campus community.
• Survey Students: Not sure if your brand promise is fully reflected in the student experience? Well, in the words of Obi Wan Kenobi, “Use the force.” By sponsoring an opinion survey of new students early in the second semester each year, your branding task force can identify which expectations have been met, which haven’t been met, and what changes need to be made to improve brand alignment.
• Survey Alumni: A task-force-sponsored alumni opinion survey can help determine the consistency of brand image and engagement among this key constituency. Pay special attention to the differences between alumni who support the annual fund and alumni graduates of the past three years.
• Keep an Eye on the Competition: In a marketplace that goes at hyper drive, competitors need to be carefully scrutinized. With that in mind, your institution’s branding task force should monitor the recruitment efforts of three to five of your primary competitors on a regular basis. Engage a task force member to inquire as both an undergraduate and graduate student at each competitive institution. By examining the content, quality, and timing of the responses received (both print and digital), the group can develop a set of actionable recommendations.
• Provide Branding Input: The task force provides content input for the president’s annual State of the Brand Report—a comprehensive document that covers major branding topics, ongoing initiatives, and goals.
• Coordinate Plans: An institution’s strategic plan should serve as the foundation for its branding communications plan. The challenge is making sure that the internal campus community not only believes in the strategic plan, but lives it on a daily basis. An essential role of the branding task force is to coordinate these plans and discover new ways each person and each department can exemplify the institutional brand and truly “be one with the force.”

At Stamats, we travel the galaxy looking for new ways to help colleges and universities apply their brands in innovative ways, reach a wider audience, and create meaningful connections with their constituents. If you’d like to learn more about our branding services, give us a call at 800-553-8878. In the meantime, may the (brand) force be with you.

As busy consumers with ever-shorter attention spans, we all look for shortcuts to help us evaluate—and assign value to—products and services. Unlike buying something as ultimately disposable as a car or a refrigerator, however, selecting a college is a life-changing decision.

Taglines That Tank

But as higher education marketers (too-often inspired by well-intentioned arm-chair marketing experts higher up the organizational food chain) race to deploy snappy taglines designed to catapult their institutions into brighter lights, we consistently see their efforts fall prey to some serious under-thinking:

1. They assume audiences will fully comprehend and honor the ponderous depth and breadth of whatever work ultimately yielded its nifty tagline shorthand.
2. They forget how essential it is to “unpack” the tagline by showing artful and compelling images and telling mind-blowing and compelling stories about their schools’ emotional cores; taglines should rarely stand alone.
3. They forget that most of their important target audiences already have their school’s prior taglines, campaign themes, mottos, mantras, advertising slogans, hashtags, and cheer squad yells already swirling around in their heads; this new one just fuels brand blur.
4. At a most fundamental level, they forget to conduct a disaster check to identify other schools—some in their own backyards—already using the same or similar taglines. Two extraordinarily unscientific and entirely incomplete tools offer a place to start: (1) any respectable search engine, and (2) our own Higher Education tagline repository recently featured in a Chronicle of Higher Education poem by reporter Steve Kolowich.
5. And most important of all, they woefully underestimate the snap judgment college-shopping students exercise when they see trite, cliché, sappy taglines that are anything but remarkable or memorable.

Resist the temptation to relegate your institutional brand to mediocrity by saddling it with another forgettable tagline. Save the tags for short-term ad campaigns or sideline cheers at the big game.

Honor Your Story and Your Students’ Journeys

Be wise and be brave. Honor your institutional brand with a reflective expression of your school story. Show and tell. Don’t simply default to a tagline.