FEATURE: REAL WORLD MARKETING
Miscellaneous observations from an educational communicator’s perspective
Don’t just say it. Be it. In 2006, Intel Corporation unveiled a new brand identity to help the company emphasize its cutting-edge approach to technology. The tagline, “Leap ahead,” reinforces Intel’s mission to stay ahead of the curve in technology, education, social responsibility, and more. The message is a good one, but the newly designed graphic symbol conflicts with the idea. In the company’s new logo, the word “Intel” is enclosed in a pair of swooshes—arguably the most overused graphic element in recent memory. The swoosh was in full swing over a decade ago, and hundreds of companies adopted it to suggest modernity and movement. Trouble is, you are not “leaping ahead” if you use an outdated, overworked visual metaphor. This is a lesson that all communicators—including college marketers—must observe. Let’s be sure our words and images match, not clash.
Swooshes have been used to decorate a wide range of corporate symbols
Sketch labeled “frater Occham iste”, from Ockham’s Summa Logicae, 1931
How a 14th century maxim can improve your marketing communications. William Ockham (c.1285–1349), logician and friar, is best known for his association with Ockham’s Razor: “Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,” or “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” In other words, the razor should be used to “shave away” unnecessary assumptions to reveal the simplest solution. The principle has long been incorporated into the scientific process and helps to reduce the likelihood of inconsistent or redundant thinking. But science is not the only discipline that benefits from observing the maxim. Writers, editors, art directors, and web programmers alike will do better, cleaner, more powerful work by taking Ockham’s words to heart. Is your website rife with redundant navigation and unnecessary pages? Does your communications plan carry excess weight? Are your admissions materials inconsistent and wordy? If so, Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
Coming clean on surveys. A recent newspaper article announced that hand washing in public restrooms is declining. A telephone poll of 1,001 people found that 92 percent claimed to wash their hands whenever they visited public bathrooms. But when observers discreetly recorded the behavior of over 6,000 men and women around the country, only 77 percent actually lathered up. This discrepancy demonstrates why we should be careful drawing conclusions solely based on survey data. Audiences don’t always respond truthfully about their own behavior. More often, they either reveal what they believe about themselves, or what they want surveyors to believe.
Advice from Van Gogh on achieving your goals. “But what is your final goal, you may ask. That goal will become clearer, will emerge slowly but surely, much as the rough draught turns into a sketch, and the sketch into a painting through the serious work done on it, through the elaboration of the original vague idea and through the consolidation of the first fleeting and passing thought.” Van Gogh was right. Great ideas are seldom hatched intact, but are rather the product of refinement, of thinking and rethinking, of discarding and distilling. If your website looks ho-hum, if the proofreader is the only one who reads your viewbook from cover to cover, if your campaign theme sounds uninspired, then it’s time to regroup and rethink. Although you face a big challenge, don’t let the size of the task overwhelm the process. Remember that small steps lead to big discoveries. It’s the best way to reach your final marketing goal.
Good PR can be as simple as common courtesy. I live in a neighborhood at the edge of a college campus. When classes began this fall, the lack of parking spaces indicated that students had arrived. Recently, college security officers spoke with neighbors and student drivers as they parked their cars. I learned that the officers were gathering information about how to help the overflow parking situation and giving neighbors “No College Parking” signs for their lawns. They were also encouraging students to register their cars with the college. The courtesy was impressive, and thanks to the uniforms and logos on the cars, the college’s efforts were very visible. By contrast, on a different college campus about five miles away, members of a tennis clinic were given $75 tickets for parking without permits. They had been parking there all summer without any problem, but new parking restrictions had been put in place. Unfortunately for the tennis players, the college had not gotten around to posting new signs. Even seemingly small gestures like these interactions with the community can impact an institution’s brand, for better or for worse.
Mixed messages—a whopping serving of mystery meat. I noticed this billboard driving through western Maryland over the weekend. Although charming in its naiveté, the sign delivers a potent warning to communicators: mixed messages are confusing. In my experience, a sausage patty is not a burger. And why is Uncle Charley—not Uncle Carlo—making sweet Italian patties? An audience is unlikely to take the time to decipher what you mean whether they’re driving 55 mph or speeding through the Internet. Knowing precisely what you want to say, and using the right words and pictures to communicate it, is a recipe for clear, successful marketing messages.
FEATURE
New admissions materials and a new look for the website coincide with the announcement of Misericordia’s transition to university status.
Misericordia adopts a new look GCF partnered with Misericordia during a time of change in both name and status: a transition from College Misericordia to Misericordia University. We developed a new graphic identity and subsequent print materials that were designed to reinforce two key concepts: (1) MU offers a high quality, challenging education, and (2) learning happens in a close-knit, human-scale environment where people care about their education, their future, and each other.
In order to present a unified look, GCF also provided concept and design direction for the homepage of the website, as well as guidance on several other aspects of the site. The redesigned homepage streamlined navigation while giving visitors a powerful first glimpse of the MU experience.
New look and feel for Misericordia’s homepage
Previous look and feel for Misericordia’s homepage
Marketing conundrum A close look at the recent crop of higher education websites and printed marketing materials reveals a perplexing trend. Institutions—even those in direct competition with each other—are sending audiences essentially the same messages. They cling to clichés that can be used to portray “Any College, USA.”
A Google search of higher education institutions reveals that many use the same key phrases to describe themselves:
990,000 use the phrase “global community”
632,000 use “unique experience”
534,000 use “individual attention”
462,000 use “cutting-edge technology”
455,000 use “friendly atmosphere”
427,000 use “outstanding faculty”
365,000 use “career preparation”
225,000 use “beautiful campus”
Surely these schools don’t think they’re the only ones who can claim a unique experience on a beautiful campus with outstanding faculty. These words are so overused that they camouflage an institution rather than differentiate it. If you really want to position your institution as unique, then you can’t talk about it using the same vocabulary as everyone else.
Course catalogs: bulky, expensive, obsolete? Colleges cultivate—and cherish—long-held traditions: faculty versus student ball games, dorm rivalries, senior gifts, print course catalogs. But sometimes the march of time and the advances of technology dictate a change in a long-held practice. Take the college course catalog, for example. With the Internet and its ability to store tons of information that can be updated frequently, doesn’t it make sense to put the course catalog online?
Many institutions are doing just that. A recent article in the University Continuing Education Association’s in focus newsletter (September 2006, “Phasing Out Course Catalogs”) highlights a few institutions that have successfully embraced online course catalogs. At Hofstra University, the entire catalog is available online as a downloadable PDF. Hofstra students can even register for classes online using a shopping cart-type process. Texas Tech has cut its print quantities almost in half by telling prospective students how to access course information online and sending print catalogs to high school counselors instead.
Print catalogs have not been eliminated at these universities, however; for now, the tradition has been preserved. But taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Internet technology has saved institutions like Hofstra and Texas Tech staff time, print costs, and postage.
Mad Men—Where the truth lies A new series on the AMC cable television channel explores the lives of the advertising men of Madison Avenue who had a powerful influence on 1960-era society. The pun in the show’s tagline, “Where the truth lies,” suggests the cultural tensions of the times—repression, prejudice, consumerism, stereotypes, gender roles, etc. The program is a cringe-inducing yet captivating look back at the early days of mass communication—one that communicators today shouldn’t miss.
Why Daniel Burnham is my newest hero Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, is actually a tale of two cities—each representing the best and the worst of human nature. The book reads like a novel, but it is pure history. Larson traces the paths of two main characters, Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect, and H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer. A fascinating read on many levels, this story will inspire anyone who has ever taken on the responsibilities of completing a huge project like a capital campaign or a new identity design. Building a world’s fair under an impossible deadline, with all the headaches of organizing scores of architects, government officials, and thousands of laborers and exhibitors is a Herculean task that Burnham manages with a cool head and a passionate heart. Some may find the serial killer storyline more gripping, but for those of us who work in college marketing, the story of building the fair against all odds is a familiar suspense. To purchase your own copy of this book click here.
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Jargon changes faster than technology. These sites can help you sort it all out.
Netlingo
Whatis.com
Do you know what you want to say, but can’t find the right words? OneLook’s reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept.
OneLook
The font that has taken over the western world is now the subject of a fascinating documentary film. Definitely typecasting...
The Helvetica Hegemony
Helvetica Documentary
What’s that typeface? Was it Big Caslon or Casablanca? This site will help you find and identify any font by its key characteristics.
Identifont
This site shows an imaginative—and personal—way to navigate content. Inspiring!
phatterism
Visit this blog to get a “good laugh” at unnecessary quotation marks found around the world.
Quotation mark blog
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...in Virginia
College Communicators Association Fall Conference
November 2, 2007
10:15-11:30 a.m.
University of Mary Washington
Hard Copy: Print’s new and vital role in an electronic world
Brenda Foster and Domenica Genovese will discuss the changing role of print communications in the computer age and will explore the five essential ingredients of successful print communications.
...online
CASE Online Speaker Series
Thursday, November 8, 2007
2:00-3:30PM ET
Hundreds of Websites, Countless Insights
Brenda will reveal the results of GCF’s eight-year survey of 100 college websites. This year GCF surveyed the most prestigious schools in the nation using U.S. News & World Report’s “Lowest Acceptance Rates” for 2007.
FEEDBACK
Do you have comments, questions, or story ideas that you’d like us to cover in an upcoming issue
of The Cram Quarterly? If so, send an email to Brenda@GCFonline.com or give Brenda a call at
410-467-4672.