Brand Consistency during Presidential Transitions

Building a brand the next president will embrace

Building a Brand That the ��Next President Will Embrace

CASE I/II New York City

January 23, 2012

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Our Main Point •  If institutions develop a brand the right way, then the brand

is bigger than any one individual at the institution. •  The “right way” captures the essence of a place. It will

transcend past individual presidents and their personalities. •  Not every brand deserves to survive presidential transition. •  Brands evolve – if you have a humanly connected truthful

brand it will bend but not break.

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Questions we’ll address •  So what makes new leadership decide to retain instead of

replace a brand? •  What sort of brand building process can increase the

likelihood that a new president will stick with it? •  How do you educate your board and senior leadership

team? •  Why should you care?

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Great ‘brand’ schools have: •  Histories in which they take pride

•  Traditions that bind the generations

•  Alumni who remain engaged for life

•  The confidence to be themselves

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When developing a brand, be sure it is: •  Rooted in the institution’s core values

•  Distinguishing

•  Single-minded but inclusive

•  Reflective of our reality and our aspiration

•  Timeless, eloquent, elegant

This is why brand development is an art.

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Brands new presidents are likely to hold on to Those that:

•  Represent a big, timeless idea •  Win respect of the stakeholders •  Define the institution, not its leader •  Have meaning beyond the phrases that capture them •  Resonate with future stakeholders and current ones

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Your new president is more likely to stick with your brand if it:

•  Isn’t personal to the previous president •  Is undeniably true •  Hasn’t been beaten to death through overexposure or

poor stewardship •  Is fertile enough soil in which to grow the legacy of a

new administration •  Exists as more than an ad campaign or a “tagline” •  Is flexible enough to bend

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Brands new presidents are likely to discard:

•  Brands that are worn out •  Brands that are obsolete or which don’t support the new

administration’s mandate •  Brands that speak narrowly to a previous administration’s

“version” of the truth of the institution

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Why is it desirable that a well-conceived brand outlive its creator? •  Because your brand is your institution’s story, and so long

as the institution exists, it can never be completely told •  Because your brand is supposed to help you build

institutional reputation, and its capacity to do this expands with the passage of time

•  Because it’s clear evidence of institutional integrity, good stewardship, and constancy of purpose

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Pres. Haaland holds brand development workshop

Long-‐term brand strategy approved and implemented

•  MarkeBng CommiDee reshaped to be Brand Council •  Search for new President begins, posiBoning statement used

Pres. Will retains brand strategy

• New seal for 175th

Pres. Riggs era begins

•  Key messages adopted •  Integrated markeBng plan developed


What we found in 2003:

•  We were graduating alumni forever grateful for their experience at the College, but not forever committed to the institution itself.

•  We discovered little “brand reverence”— little sense that Gettysburg College is a little bigger than life

•  We were matriculating students who had little interest in or appreciation of the meaning of the “place.”

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The great irony: We were committing to preparing citizens of this country and others to “go out and change the world,” yet we would allow our students to matriculate largely oblivious to their four-year citizenship in (and subsequently life-long connection with) a place that in fact did change the world.

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The Positioning Statement: (definition)

•  A carefully developed interpretation of what the institution is best at, for whom, and why

•  A strategic tool designed to serve as the foundation of the College’s claim to leadership in its category

•  In its entirety, a statement that could describe no other institution

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The Gettysburg College Positioning Statement Gettysburg is a college deeply rooted in the American experience. It was born of democratic values, strong optimism, and the firm conviction that only a liberal arts education fully awakens and prepares people to lead lives of enlightened contribution to a free society. Gettysburg stands as witness and authority to the depths of devotion required to confirm the nation and perfect its promise. This unique perspective has long shaped and strengthened the College’s development as an academic institution modern in facility and pedagogy, honoring of service to others, and committed to the preparation of the whole person. Gettysburg College is a highly motivated community of intentional students, faculty, and administrators, who come together in this place to build in each other a passion and capacity for the responsibility of citizenship, and the opportunity of leadership, within a community, a nation, and a world.

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The promise of Gettysburg College: In 2003 this promise was codified:

Gettysburg College prepares its students to lead energetic, engaged and enlightened lives.

In 2010 the promise was recast:

Gettysburg College prepares its students to be leaders and active citizens of their professions, communities, nations, and world.

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The Brand Signature of Gettysburg College:

Do great work

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Building brand coherent traditions: •  Class Flags/Convocation/Graduation •  The First-Year Walk •  The new and more proudly displayed college seal •  The History of the College exhibit

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Transition to President Riggs •  May 2008, EES Board Committee meeting, plans to enhance visibility

and improve academic reputation

•  President Council retreats secured agreement on programs of national distinction and did a complete review of current research results to understand our image. Four external firms were brought in to brainstorm with the team

•  EES team develops Communication Plan to increase institutional visibility

•  Developed 5 key marketing messages with supporting programs and facts that was shared with the board during an April 2010 webinar. Reorganized the Communications team to better support institutional marketing and developed the first phase of a bolder approach to Do Great Work with the Admissions view book

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Brand as it exists today (Year 10) •  First-Year Handbook •  Annual Fund solicitation •  A new Viewbook •  Search •  Admissions Outcomes •  VLS materials •  President’s Video

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Some Do’s and Don’ts •  Do: keep a firm rein on your brand, but give it its lead and

let it run –  If the brand is sound, you can trust the people of the

institution with it –  The secret to any brand’s longevity: regular exercise

(exposure) good diet (great stories) and plenty of rest (no over-exposure)

•  Don’t: Hammer the brand. If you treat it like an ad campaign, it will wear thin like an ad campaign, and beg to be retired

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Do’s and Don’ts •  Think broadly about your brand—message consistency is

important, but your brand is a three-dimensional concept, not a three-word phrase, a :30 sec. commercial or an Ad Word campaign

•  Treat the brand line, and your expressions of it, with the same respect you wish others to give it

•  Build equity in your brand over time—let it come to live in a comfortable place in the consciousness of your campus community

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Summary •  If you believe in your brand, keep nurturing it •  Use the brand to compel the next president to take the job •  Demonstrate its currency and power to the new president •  Bend the brand to accommodate new direction •  If it won’t bend, start over •  And next time, shoot for a more timeless concept

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Thank you!

•  Paul Redfern Executive Director of Communications & Marketing Gettysburg College [email protected]

•  Peter Holloran President Cognitive Marketing Inc. [email protected]

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Brand Consistency during Presidential Transitions