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Higher-education institutions -- like many organizations these days -- manage a family of offerings. And though it may often slip through your fingers, the perceived relationship between those “sub” brands and the parent or “master” brand matters. Your people, programs, and places are all brands, and a strategy for managing those brand relationships is the only way to ensure credit flows back to your institution (a must for fundraising and recruitment). In this session, learn the basics of the 4 brand relationship strategies, see examples from from many universities, and learn how to apply them effectively and comprehensively to your institutions’ print, digital, and social media communications.
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Connecting Your Brands and Putting Them to Work
Brand alignmentfor higher ed
Eric Norman and Tamsen McMahonSametz Blackstone Associates
Julie RaffertyHarvard School of Public Health
CASE D1 28 January 2011
Diagram four main branding strategies Branding strategies in action
What’s in the tour / goals
Because it affects: How much you spend to promote your offerings How much credit you get for your offerings How well you can “sell in” or “sell across” Your alumni’s pride in their alma mater Donors’ perceptions of your heft and momentum
Why care about brand alignment?
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Four main strategies
Brands—Parent brand—Child brands (or Sub brands)
Brand strategy—Relationships among brands
Brand identity system—Names and visual design
Speaking the same language
Brand strategyThe approach (or combination of approaches) used by organizations to identify themselves and their entities / offerings––and the relationships between these entities / offerings.
Speaking the same language
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Master Source Endorsed Product
Parent brand influences all offerings Umbrella value proposition extends to across offerings No unique identities, usually generic naming
Master (umbrella) branding
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Master
Master branding
Master branding
Tight familial relationship with parent and child/sibling brands, but space between them
Distinct value propositions under familial value More subtle identity variations; systematic nomenclature
Source branding
Source
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Source branding
Source branding
Overt but subtle relationship with parent / sibling brands Unique identity, name and value proposition, backed by
parent or family brand
Endorsed branding
Endorsed
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Endorsed branding
Endorsed branding
Unique identity and name Unique value proposition No overt relationships with parent or sibling brands
Product branding
Product
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Product branding
Strategy tradeoffs
Succeeds or fails on its own
Requires separate media / comm’s
Expensive to introduce / maintain
Unique identity & value proposition
Can show focus
All entities / experiences contribute to reputation of parent brand
Leverages all communication / media $s
Less expensive to introduce / maintain
Unified, over-arching identity and value
Supports integrated selling
Master Source Endorsed Product
Institutional focus
Program / offering focus
Brand strategies in action
Parent brandParent brand
Child brand,master brandedChild brand,master branded
Master brandedpropertyMaster brandedproperty
Child brand,endorsed brandChild brand,endorsed brand
Child brand,endorsed brandChild brand,endorsed brand
Child brand,product brandedChild brand,product branded
Parent brandParent brand
Child brand,master brandedChild brand,master branded
Child brand,master brandedChild brand,master branded
Child brand,master brandedChild brand,master branded
Child brand…brand strategy?Child brand…brand strategy?
Name / nomenclature Logos Color palette Graphic design
—Typography—Composition—Signature design gestures
Commission / approval / production process
Levers for expressing brand strategy
Names
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
New England University School of Business New England University Men’s Basketball New England University Photonics Center New England University Department of Biology
Names / nomenclature: Master
New England University Warbucks School of Business New England University Woodchucks New England University InterGlobalCorp Photonics
Center
New England University Novus Magazine
Names / nomenclature: Source
Warbucks Business School at New England University InterGlobalCorp Photonics Center at New England
University
Warbucks Performing Arts Center at New England University
Names / nomenclature: Endorsed
Warbucks Business School The Woodchucks InterGlobalCorp Photonics Institute
Warbucks Museum
Names / nomenclature: Product
Logos
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Standardize your logo / seal / wordmark and distribute templates—Typographic style(s) for subbrands
Encourage / require consistent source or endorsing brand banners
Logos
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Parent brand markParent brand mark
Colors
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Standardize core and supporting colors—Publish specs across media
Strong or distinctive use of core color(s)
Color palette
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Consistent color paletteConsistent color palette
Design
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Consistent typography, composition, and signature design gestures
Graphic design
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Distinctive design cuesDistinctive design cues
Whoa! What does this mean?Whoa! What does this mean?
Working withlittle spaceWorking withlittle space
…and even less space…and even less space
Processes
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Requirements versus coordination—Where is the most powerful influence?—Where are the greatest chances for success?
If any one of the above is centralized, better chance of achieving brand strategy
Central archive of strategy documentation, direction, and assets helps
Staff training, vendor requirements and audits
Commission / approval / production process
© Sametz Blackstone Associates
Based on your institution’s strategic goals, which brand strategy / strategies should you use?
What distance do we need between brands to get the right credit?
What level of inter-operability do we want to imply to build a bigger picture?
What is the value of the whole vs the parts? What are the practical implications (and possible
consequences) of a strategy?
Questions to consider
For your reference
