College marketing and communications teams increasingly look to boost video teams and budgets. All well and good, but we should not overlook the enduring value and impact of your still image library. It’s easy to grow complacent and assume that last year’s photos will meet this year’s needs. It’s tempting to hire less qualified photographers, […]
As revenue pressures grow across higher education, so do board- and cabinet-level imperatives to “define the brand.” Easier said than done, true. But also worth every ounce of effort. At its best, a brand discovery should yield an authentic and durable brand position (with a 10-year shelf life). Better yet, a brand discovery (well planned […]
Former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight famously said to an audience of newspaper reporters, “All of us learn to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things.” Part joke, part poisoned-tipped joust, the heralded Knight voiced an ambivalence about writing and writers that lingers within many college marketing departments […]
After serving 100 colleges over 25 years, here is what we have learned. The most successful college and university brands embody these 7 best practices. In fact they have turned into living habits and have led thus become schools of consequence.
While all .edu websites send important signals and establish vital threads of connection to stakeholders — corporate recruiters, research partners and regional funders/allies — a business school website does so with greater urgency and a far more explicit mandate. We held that truth close as we set about redesigning a new website for the Boler […]
To find one’s voice and to have the courage to speak it is sacred. But to be heard is divine. This wisdom applies to both people and brands alike. The art of listening is a great gift of life. Cultivating it has been incredibly hard for a person like me who has been struggling and […]
There isn’t an algorithm for defining brand architecture in higher education. However, some heuristics or common patterns exist that will help colleges and universities frame their specific situation.
Seeing Red – What Design and Branding Experts Think of That Red Hat
Companies and institutions with out-dated or poorly executed identities need to be aware of the perception their identity has in the markets they serve.
Neuroscientists would disagree with Juliet’s famous words from William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet Smell as sweet? yes. Perceived the same as a rose? Probably not. Brain scientists can prove with imaging techniques that different words evoke vastly […]