2. Open Access to Materials
It is an unfortunate reality that most leading universities do not provide easy access to institutionally approved branding materials if they provide any access at all. When they do, often what is offered amounts to little more than a small cache of logos and advisements on fonts or color palettes. While these may be helpful to programs assembling letterhead or event flyers, there is a much larger opportunity for unified branding that institutions are missing.
In our multi-mediated, digital media era, marketing and outreach materials are completely saturated with visual imagery, including photographs and videos. Without a centralized, institution-wide repository of stock resources, many departments and programs are left to fend for themselves.
The standard educational media request workflow (i.e. sending emails for locating content and obtaining permission to access) hardly matches the creative realities of the academic environment—thus encouraging users to circumvent visual identity policies. This represents not only sunk time and effort for the individuals creating materials from scratch but also a fatal weak link in a campus’s branding initiative. Without the opportunity for review and quality control, the effect of a school’s so-called “unified” identity is greatly diminished.
3. Incorporate Technology Infrastructure
The solution, of course, is a renewed investment in campus-wide technological infrastructure. While many institutions invest heavily in their media resources, hiring expensive photographers and videographers or licensing high-end design services, they are sorely lacking in the technologies and platforms that will give them the greatest return on their investments.
Providing an easily and universally available, centralized, one-stop searchable repository of digital media, at the top of the creative funnel, strengthens an institution’s branding initiative while also saving its administrators and staff precious time and energy.
More to the point, the quality-controlled visual consistency provided by such infrastructure will ultimately be what separates the wheat from the chaff as branding, whether initiated by current students or driven by Admissions offices, becomes even more vital to institutional success in the Digital Age. With a rise in for-profit and online degree programs, as well as an increasingly aggressive market for traditional higher educational institutions, a coherent and unified brand story is the key to cutting through the noise of the competition.
Bob McDonald is an award-winning teacher and advocate for sustainable educational technologies. For the past 20 years, he has focused on supporting innovation and creativity across educational institutions. After starting his education career in the Baltimore City Public Schools, Bob went on to become an award-winning teacher who explored the impact of emerging technologies on teaching and learning. After leaving the classroom, Bob launched several successful for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that provided innovative and sustainable technology platforms for education. Currently, Bob is the Director of Education Services at VideoBlocks for Education in Reston, VA.
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