NYSACAC conference, June 2012 hosted at Ithaca College

1. Look before you leap:
Research as a foundation for
brand identity development
Eric Maguire
Vice President, Enrollment and Communication
Rachel Reuben
Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications

2. Topics we’ll cover
Starting & launching a re-branding effort
Tactics for gaining buy-in
The research process

3. Identifying the Problems
No single core message(s) used college-wide
Logo did not contain the word “College,” making advertising out of the
immediate area challenging
Print + web (or anything else) were not integrated
Extremely siloed structure

4. Identifying the Problems
Logo garden
Declining demographics
Increased competition
Support college’s strategic plan: IC 20/20

5. Establishing buy-in
Working Group
CMAC
Traveling road show
Articulate research process

10. Selecting partners
RFP - April 2010
21 responses
4 finalists to campus
1 firm selected

11. Creating the brand identity
Alumni Attitude Study (previous - 2009)
Focus groups
Perception and image study
Brand identity development
Refinement
Internal stakeholders pitch

12. Brand Statement
If there’s one thing we know for sure, it is this:
The future is uncertain. At Ithaca College, we’re ready for it.
Here, in a college town hailed as idyllic, we prepare students for reality. No
matter what their majors, we teach them to think critically – across
disciplines, across boundaries, across cultures.
We make sure they have real-world experience – through practica,
internships, jobs, and travel abroad.
From Day One, everything we do is aimed at helping students develop the
competence and confidence they’ll need to make their way in to the world.
There’s one other thing we know for sure: No matter what the future holds,
Ithaca graduates will be ready.
Watch them change the world.

13. The identity and creative concept test
Audiences surveyed:
prospective students
currently enrolled students
faculty/staff
alumni
higher ed peers

16. The identity and creative concept test
Tested three Ready executions

17. The identity and creative concept test
Tested two logo executions

18. The identity and creative concept test
Themes that emerged
Logo needed further refinement
New execution for ready needed
People preferred stories that focused on students
Didn’t like fear factor in copywriting
Preferred a more collegiate look

21. ithaca.edu/ready

28. Follow-up Research
Focus group-tested before it went live
Launch was August 31, 2011
Advertising and perception study with parents of admitted students in
summer 2012
Follow-up perception study in fall 2014

29. Questions?
Eric Maguire
Vice President, Enrollment and Communication
Rachel Reuben
Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications
Twitter: @rachelreuben