mStoner’s First Law of Branding
Let’s get right to the point: “Everything is connected to everything else.”
I often begin conference presentations about social media by talking about this concept. To me, “Everything is connected to everything else” means that what you tweet about should be connected to what you post in Facebook. Not the same, mind you, but connected.
And while I’ve had insights before about how this is as true of brand strategy as it is of social media [and the real world: it happens to be Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology], the connection really hit me this week after a conversation with Ed Sirianno from Creative Communication Associates. Ed and I were talking about a presentation he’s developing for the Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education next week and I had one of those DUH! moments.
“Everything is connected to everything else” is the foundation of brand strategy, which social media should support. In an ideal world, anyway.
The conundrum of a .edu brand
Let’s not delude ourselves: in the world of education—which is the world that mStoner serves—institutions are much more alike than they are different. So to market itself effectively, an institution must be clear about what it stands for and what differentiates it from other institutions. Institutions or consultants work hard to determine the essence of those differences and come up with the right language and images to communicate them. Many people think that “branding” is all about the shorthand you use or the stuff you create to package the image: the tagline, the colors, the cool design, the institutional typeface, the advertisements, and other cool stuff.
WRONG. TOTALLY WRONG.
Real branding is about selecting, cultivating, and communicating what many agencies call “key messages.” [At mStoner, we focus on understanding and telling authentic brand stories; I’ll write a blog post about this topic at another time.]
Back to our first law. Once you identify those important messages/stories, you’ll want to incorporate them into the important channels of communication and interaction for your institution. The more disciplined you are, the more effective you’ll be. Call it “integrated marketing” if you will, but it really is about connecting everything in a systematic way, across multiple channels.
Your website is your most important communication tool, but today your website is part of a much larger ecosystem. The social web is particularly important because that’s where of your institution’s target audiences connect and engage—prospective students, parents, alumni, friends, donors, members of your local community, faculty, staff, current students, and so many others spend their time in these spaces. Print and other channels help to reinforce the value of these social web interactions.
Every communication—whether a 2500-word profile in your alumni magazine or a 140-character tweet—should reinforce your brand and work together as an ecosystem bound by a sure knowledge of the stories that are most important for your institution and yours, alone, to tell.
As I said, it’s simple. Once you understand that “everything is connected to everything else.” It’s just putting it into practice that’s difficult.
Thank you for this Michael. It is very timely for us as we kick off a project to get our visual identity under control. Our website design gives us some momentum to build on but brand consistency is a goal not an accomplishment at this point.
I am inspired by this blog post and I know we’ll reference it often during our work.
Susan T. Evans
Director of Creative Services
College of William & Mary
Posted on November 4, 2010 by Susan T. Evans
Susan, Thanks for our kind words. Yes, there’s work to do, but I’ve seen few, if any, institutions that have been able to achieve brand consistency. If that’s any consolation.
Posted on November 5, 2010 by Michael Stoner
Well-put, Michael. I appreciate your putting the .edu/higher ed branding conundrum in the context of an online ecosystem. The growth of social media has been very organic, so the ecosystem analogy works for me. Your “everything is connected” law also reminded me of a great little book about the Internet by David Weinberger (one of the four “Cluetrain” authors) called “Small Pieces Loosely Joined.” And by your post connecting my mind to that book title, you have proven your law. Bravo.
Posted on November 7, 2010 by Andrew Careaga
It’s even deeper (more like Commoner’s ecosystem): do the people who interact with your institution at all its touch points have experiences that at least approximate—and ideally fulfill and reinforce—the brand essence?
I wonder how many people outside higher ed appreciate just how tough it is in an industry where the vast majority of the “product” is created by employees whose recognition and promotion opportunities have very little to do with how they connect with or deliver on the brand.
Don’t get me wrong—I work with many outstanding faculty who absolutely have vision and passion and excel at conveying that to prospects, students, donors and all the other constituencies (target audiences). We just aren’t set up to reward that in a meaningful way.
The best brands are built on what they deliver intrinsically. The trick is finding THAT and building on it.
@BarbChamberlain
Posted on November 7, 2010 by Barb Chamberlain
Barb and Andy, thanks for your comments. I agree with you, Barb, that it’s so often difficult to deliver on the brand experience. It amazes me when it happens, and that it happens so frequently. Discovering and rewarding the champions is worthwhile: I realized when I wrote that that I’m starting to sound like Rex Whisman. I like the way he talks about developing brands from the inside out—a lesson many .edus could take to heart.
And, Andy, glad to see that you could connect this with Cluetrain. And not surprised.
Posted on November 7, 2010 by Michael Stoner
After 20+ years in higher ed branding, I believe that schools need to embrace the paradox that Barb describes. Some measure of brand awareness can be generative. Too much — anything approaching the brand orthodoxy of consumer goods — is probably out of reach and misguided anyway. Claim an authentic position, live it out loud, police it with a light touch, celebrate the peaks, accept the exceptions, tell great stories as Michael suggests and you will be far ahead of the curve.
Posted on December 27, 2010 by R. Todd Erkel