If nothing else, 2024 for me was a year of transition and disruption. And — I hope — a year I learned to be more grateful and empathetic.
After 40 years of full-time work, much of it in academia, I entered a new phase of life last January. Some call it retirement, but it has hardly been that. My pursuit of creative writing and some freelance work has kept me busy enough. In addition, my wife and I and our cat had a couple of health scares that made us reevaluate our values and gave us greater insight into the workings of the U.S. health care system, the good, bad, and ugly of it. We also mourned the passing of a few friends from our church family and continue to honor their memory.
In other words, a lot of life happened in 2024. Here are some highlights from the year:
The 2018 CASE District VI Conference is being held Jan. 28-30 in St. Louis
The 2018 CASE District VI conference is officially off and running today in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. I’ve already reconnected with friends and acquaintances from past conference and from my work with them on the district board, and I look forward to making new connections with professionals in the world of advancement, alumni relations, and communications and marketing. Continue reading “A marketer’s guide to #CASEVI 2018”
The 2014 version of CASE’s Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding is now one for the books. It was a terrific experience for me, both as a presenter and as an attendee. I picked up a lot of great ideas and gleaned many insights from my co-presenters and from other attendees. I could share dozens of takeaways, but it’s Friday, and I’m sticking with the theme. So here are five takeaways from the conference:
We’re all a work in progress. During Thursday afternoon’s faculty panel Q&A, one of the conference attendees said it seemed like we presenters were all “on the Starship Enterprise” from Star Trek while she was “driving the yabba dabba do car” from The Flintstones. That’s one of the challenges about attending these types of conferences: We hear about best practices in branding or major marketing successes, or we hear about an organizational structure that sounds more functional than our own, and we end up with some cognitive dissonance — inspired by what might be possible but also gripped by a sense of dread about the realities we face back on campus. What we don’t often hear from presenters are the challenges they faced to develop a mature marketing program or launch a brand refresh. Or the challenges they continue to face on those and a dozen other fronts. None of us has discovered the perfect approach, and we continue to face obstacles on our road to creating the Ultimate Higher Ed Brand. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we’re all a work in progress.
Strategy and story are both important. During the conference, we (presenters and attendees) talked a lot about taking a strategic approach to branding and marketing. And we talked a lot about the importance of storytelling to cut through the marketing clutter so that our brands stand out. But the critical takeaway for me is the idea of strategic storytelling. Developing a core brand is crucial. Presenter Jason Simon called it “the scaffold” on which we build all of the other elements that help us present our brand — the visual identity, the messaging, the PR effort, the storytelling. Without a strategy, storytelling can become fuzzy and non-cohesive. Without storytelling, a brand strategy can become cold and lifeless. We need both.
Focus. Focus. Focus. The key to building a strong brand is focusing on what differentiates our institutions from the rest of the herd. It’s that simple. And that challenging. Related to focus is the ability to…
Simplify. Understand the essence of your brand — or your story, your message, etc. — and simplify to the point that you can easily explain only what needs to be shared. As Charlie Melichar put it earlier today, “Don’t tell me how the clock works. Just tell me the time.” In other words, don’t bog the audience down in non-essential details.
Don’t skimp on research — but realize you can do a lot in-house. We shared a lot of examples of market research that various institutions used to inform their marketing initiatives or to measure perceptions of their brand. If you’re short on budget, find ways to conduct research in-house with some of your constituent group. It might not be the best, most scientific research, but it beats no research at all. Armed with data, you will be better positioned to advocate for your branding and marketing to your institution’s leadership.
Who else has a takeaway to share? Please post it in the comments.
P.S. – Karine Joly is also looking for input from conference-goers at her conference site to give next year’s attendees a sense of what to expect.
The 2014 edition of the CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding begins this afternoon and continues through Friday, May 2. We have a record turnout of 120 attendees, and it promises to be a terrific event. Thanks to the leadership of conference chair Rachel Reuben for pulling a solid program and some stellar faculty.
If you’re attending the event, please share what you’re learning and experiencing on Twitter by tagging your live or tape-delayed tweets with #caseacmb. For those who can’t join us in person, that’s the hashtag to follow. Either way, I hope you learn a lot about higher ed marketing, branding and leadership over these next few days. And I’m looking forward to meeting some new colleagues here in Baltimore.
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.
