Category: branding

Coming soon: CASE marketing and branding conference #CASEACMB

The CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding is coming to Baltimore, Md., April 30-May 2, 2014.
The CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding is coming to Baltimore, Md., April 30-May 2, 2014.

Keep your eyes peeled for a postcard (like the one pictured) from CASE announcing this year’s CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding. If you’re involved in marketing or branding for your institution, you won’t want to miss this conference.

Led by the illustrious Rachel Reuben (@RachelReuben), associate VP for marketing communications at Ithaca College, this conference promises to be a terrific opportunity for anyone wanting to learn from some great higher ed marketing and branding pros.

I’m fortunate to be a part of the faculty for this conference, which is scheduled for April 30-May 2 in Baltimore, Maryland. Joining Rachel and me are three more exceptional marketing and branding pros:

  • Charlie Melichar, senior consultant in strategic communications at Marts & Lundy and formerly with Vanderbilt University and Colgate University. I’ve worked with this great presenter in the past, and look forward to working with him again.
  • Jason Simon, who recently joined SimpsonScarborough as a VP and partner after serving as executive director of marketing communications for the University of California System. He previously held a similar position at North Carolina State University.
  • Heather Swain, the VP for communication and brand strategy at Michigan State University. A member of Michigan State’s staff since 2006, she previously work in communications at Ball State University.

Check out the program. We’ll be covering a broad range of relevant topics — from launching a new brand identity, measuring success and using storytelling in your marketing to advertising strategies and keeping your brand vibrant beyond the launch, and more. So sign up for this great opportunity. I hope to see you there.

Friday Five: A little link love

valentine_heart_6This being Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share a little link love.

Here are five recent posts and stories that I really love, because they convey and contain ideas and approaches that I also love:

  1. A chancellor moves beyond digital hate. One cold and snowy Illinois day last month, students at the University of Illinois took to social media to criticize — and in some cases attack, in the ugliest of ways — U of I Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise for not closing the campus. Her honest yet measured response was just what was needed to defuse the situation and address the vocal minority of haters. “Racist, intimidating or culturally derogatory epithets have no place in any debate in any circumstance,” she wrote. “Of all places, a university should be home to diverse ideas and differing perspectives, where robust — and even intense — debate and disagreement are welcomed.”
  2. Ken Burns on the power of story. The legendary documentarian discusses why the story’s whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A great, 5-minute video that moves along swiftly and, well, conveys a good story.
  3. Simplifying science without dumbing it down. An account of a physics Ph.D.’s recent launch of usefulscience.org, which offers a colorful and minimalist newsfeed of “digestible, one-sentence summaries of articles from peer-reviewed scientific publications and journals.” The site is curated by 24 volunteers — a great example of crowdsourcing for good.
  4. What’s in a name? From the folks at Ogilvy & Mather, a great piece about how a good name is crucial to the process of branding.
  5. The next time you don’t want to go to a meeting, do this. Great advice (with video) on the joy of missing out (JOMO) and uncommitting from unnecessary commitments. (This post expands on an idea mentioned in item 3 of this recent post about branding game-changers.)

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day, and have a great weekend.