Category: branding

Saving face, saving Facebook?

The folks at Facebook have upgraded privacy options for users in the wake of the user backlash about recent changes to the site that some see as an invasion of privacy.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg announces the change early, early this morning in an open letter posted on the Facebook blog. “We really messed this one up,” he says.

This was a big mistake on our part, and I’m sorry for it. But apologizing isn’t enough. I wanted to make sure we did something about it, and quickly. So we have been coding nonstop for two days to get you better privacy controls. This new privacy page will allow you to choose which types of stories go into your Mini-Feed and your friends’ News Feeds, and it also lists the type of actions Facebook will never let any other person know about. If you have more comments, please send them over.

Oh, I’m sure they will, Mark.

College magazines: What’s the point?

Food for thought for college magazine editors comes by way of Rob Westervelt’s UBrander blog. He urges us to think of our magazines in terms of return on investment and suggests a businesslike approach to definine our magazines’ overarching objectives:

If you don’t have a brand objective for your magazine, here’s how to craft one:

Example:
Our objective is to brand [YOUR SCHOOL] as [INSERT SCHOOL’S DESIRED BRAND POSITIONING IN ITS CATEGORY] so that [YOUR SCHOOL] becomes the first place [YOUR AUDIENCE] sends its students and dollars.

Once you’ve established your objective, write out your methodology for accomplishing the objective (i.e. how you’re going to do it). Remember, magazines are about readers, so write articles that connect your brand with the things your readers care about.

Good advice that should also translate to alumni magazines — and to hybrid college/alumni magazines, like the one our university publishes. Many college magazine editors have never had to think in terms of ROI. But it’s a practice worth adopting. So is Rob’s brand objective exercise.