developing a brand strategy

Defining Branding

February 20, 2008

Developing a Brand Strategy for Your Institution

© Lipman Hearne 2008. This material cannot be copied or reproduced without permission

Agenda:

Defining brand

Branding in the higher education context

The role of identity in branding

Brand Claims

Steps to brand development

Brand Positioning

A Case Study

Defining Branding

Brand: YOU

AT BIRTH

IN COLLEGE

CAREER CHANGE

OUTSIDE OF WORK

AT RETIREMENT

Brand is

NOT:

Brand is not:

The next project after the website

Your mission statement

Cooked up in the cabinet meeting

“Category” attributes

Defining Branding

Brand is not:

A logo

Color scheme/look and feel

A rule book

Advertising

Defining Branding

Brand

IS:

Brand is:

Every association and experience

Functional and emotional

Intrinsic and original

Contextual and positional

Active and intentional

Defining Branding

WINNING BRANDS:

Are championed by everyone

Pay attention

Are responsive

Change with the times

Move to meet goals

WINNING BRANDS:

Meet a compelling need (beyond “a degree”)

Inspire loyalty

Create a premium

Facilitate choice

Insulate against competition

Are ‘money in the bank’

WINNING BRANDS:

The Challenges of Brand-building

Why the angst?

Brands are abstract and metaphysical

Perceived as a ‘Zero-Sum-Game’

Perceptions affect brand—the ‘truth’ is vulnerable

‘Consumers’ are not rational

Come from commercial models

Requires collaboration and collusion

Defining Branding

The role of identity in branding

IDENTITY IS A REFLECTION OF THE BRAND

IDENTITY IS A REFLECTION OF THE BRAND

Distillation of experience

Essence

Reflection of value

Impression of associated qualities

Frame of reference

What identity can’t do:

Can’t tell a story

Can’t fix a brand

Doesn’t drive the brand

Defining Branding

What identity does best:

Reflects a personality

Expresses an abstract notion

Establishes an organizing architecture

Provides the ‘brand collateral’ for product extensions

Establishes benchmarks and standards for consistent visual expression and naming conventions

Defining Branding

Checklist for brand claim:Can we really make this promise?

Distinctive in market

Relevant to constituents

Credible and supportable with evidence

Consistent with brand heritage

Feasible and executable

Positioning the Brand

Reverse-engineering Some Brand Claims

6STEPS TO BRAND

DEVELOPMENT

1.Define the need.

Understand presenting concerns

Use evidence

Consider the past

2.Capture objectives.

Determine shared ambitions

Prioritize audiences

Set realistic goals

3.Analyze the world

outside.

Conduct constituent research

Explore the competitive and issue environment

Constructively engage with findings

4.Draft beta brand

platform and strategy.

Capture brand characteristics

Formulate a competitive brand claim

Consider how to best deliver

5.Test and refine.

Determine credibility and “gap”

Explore emotional connection

Listen for audience preferences and habits

Refine platform and claim

6.Develop brand tools.

Develop marketing plan

Check identity and architecture

Brand Positioning

Staking Your Claim

Brand totality of associations and experiences

+

Brand

Positioning

totality of associations and experiences

your brand in the competitive environment

+

Brand

Positioning

Brand claim

totality of associations and experiences

your brand in the competitive environment

the turf you stake and defend=

Checklist for brand claim

Strong and distinctive

Relevant to constituents

Credible

Consistent with brand heritage

Feasible

Positioning the Brand

Developing a brand claim

Blending science and insight

Holistic and strategic thinking

No single formula

Choosing how to focus now

Positioning the Brand

Positioning Challenge #1

Getting beyond “category”

Distinguish between “points of parity” and unique attributes

Positioning Challenge #2

Strength v. Relevance

Balancing what you are best known for against what you learn to be the most important “decision-drivers.”

Brand Positioning Priorities

Positioning Challenge #3

Motivating Desire

Understanding what audiences want from your brand beyond a degree or other functional benefit

Motivating desire

Asking the right questions

Ethnographic research

Cultural understanding

Positioning the Brand

Case Study:Fielding Graduate University

A CASE STUDY

Fielding Graduate University

Fielding Graduate University

Founded in the early 70s as an “alternative”to traditional in-residence graduate programs

“Human development” fields of psychology, org development, education

For place-bound adult studentsNow competing in for-profit online environment

Positioning the Brand

Fielding Competitor Positioning Landscape

Positioning Priorities: Fielding Graduate University

Academic quality relative to for-profits

Specialized institutional focus

Reputation in disciplines relative to for-profits

Flexibility

Commitment to social justice

Technology

Institutional reputation and prestige relative to “traditional” universities

Non-profit status

Top accreditation

FOU

ND

ATI

ON

Institution’s stated mission

Functional benefits to constituents

Defining attributes of the institution’s brand: relevant, tangible, verifiable

Tangible symbols

BRAND BENEFITBRAND FEATURESBRAND ICONS

Character and stylePrinciplesIdeals

Emotional benefits

BRAND PERSONALITYBRAND VALUEBRAND REWARDFU

NC

TIO

NA

LEM

OTI

ON

AL

Brand framework

University GOALS

Affiliation with/degree from respected graduate university in human development fields

• Exclusive focus in inter-related fields of Psychology, Human & Organization Development, and Educational Leadership

• Top professional accreditation• Dialogical/distributed learning model enabling

customized degree paths• Attracts self-directed professionals • Demonstrated research excellence• Collaborative scholar-practitioner community • Committed full-time faculty members

BRAND BENEFITCORE ATTRIBUTESBRAND ICONS

Smart, creative, caring, independent

Respect for the individual generates creative solutions and enlightened practice

“The Ph.D. that I was meant to get and that earns others’ admiration”

BRAND PERSONALITYINSTITUTIONAL VALUEBRAND REWARD

FUN

CTI

ON

AL

EMO

TIO

NA

LValidated Brand Platform: Fielding Graduate University

Mission: Fielding Graduate University prepares its students to serve as reflective professionals through its innovative doctoral and master’s programs, collaborative learning model, and continuing professional education. We support professional and personal transformation through a learning model which integrates theory, research, and values with high integrity practice and scholarship in Psychology, Human & Organization Development, and Educational Leadership & Change.

Fielding Brand Claim:

A specialized graduate university providing all the quality—plus the flexibility of on-line delivery—to draw the most self-directed and creative human development professionals

Fielding strategy:Play on ground competitors can’t

Specialized nature

Institutional solidity

Quality guarantors (APA accreditation)

Third-party endorsement

Positioning the Brand

Fielding strategy:Show students as agents

Independent ways of thinking

Students as colleagues

Breakthrough solutions in disciplines

Positioning the Brand

Fielding strategy:Don’t dwell in self-actualization space

Emotional appeals

Supportive culture (reads as remedial)

Soft imagery

Positioning the Brand