branding and messaging by justin harmon

Branding and Messagingfor UNH

Communications Summit

July 9, 2013

Goals

• Increase UNH visibility and brand awareness

• Support Admissions recruiting strategy in the Northeast

• Reinforce perceptions of UNH strength in New Hampshire

• Develop private fundraising capacity

Strategies

• Attitudinal survey• Messaging strategy• Marketing platforms• Storytelling

Market Research

• May 2012: Attitudinal survey • Students, parents, alumni, faculty

and staff • Tested 30 messages about UNH used

or anticipated for use in admissions and campaign

Reach Analysis: Best Message Packages STUDENTS

5

High-quality public education is an investment in the future of our state, our communities, and the world in which we live.

Because the state of New Hampshire has reduced its support of UNH from 12% of the school’s budget to 6%, UNH needs our support more than ever.

UNH is a national leader in sustainability, supporting sustainability studies and research across the curriculum, as well as developing sustainable operations.

Supporting UNH helps educate young people who become outstanding leaders and citizens.

Supporting UNH helps the University continue to provide cutting-edge research opportunities to faculty and undergraduate students.

92%

+4

88%

+6

82%

+11

71%

+27

44%

Key Finding

• Deep pride in the University’s mission of teaching, research and outreach, specifically as forms of service.

• Rooted in a sense of UNH’s historic role as a land-grant university, its commitment to educating students from all walks of life, and the resourcefulness its faculty, students and staff have demonstrated in pursuing their work with real success despite often scarce resources

Brand Identity

• Our brand identity must position UNH as an institution that embraces its historic mission while innovating for the future. We believe that this message, when combined with messages that describe UNH’s singular academic culture, its commitment to sustainability, and its forward-looking institutional strategy, can drive our success in the marketplace.

Highest level messagingPrimary messaging alignment

Supporting messaging & proof points

Re-imagining public higher education in a time of reduced

support

Sustainability

Mother Nature lives and thrives at UNH

Sierra: one of the greenest colleges

Creating leaders and making a

difference

The new era

Discovery

Learning in action

Cultivating transformation

“Watchers of the skies”

Frugal Yankee values and resourcefulness

New forms of pedagogy

In local communities

In New Hampshire

University dialogue

Bending the cost curve

At UNH

Part of our DNAIn America

In the world

Re-imagining time and space

Innovation via technology

Fiscal responsibility

How our students experience UNH

How we teach

How we take care of our campus

How we support business

Senior Capstone

Leadership creation

8

Messaging Strategy

9

Admissions messaging

Engagement and Giving messaging

Media relations messaging

Faculty and staff messaging

Highest-level messaging

NH messaging

Marketing Platforms

• Where education is more than a matter of degree (admissions)

• I Believe So I Give (fundraising)• UNH Works for New Hampshire

(appropriation)

Graphic Identity

• Our brand identity should position UNH as an institution that embraces its historic mission while innovating for the future.

Graphic Identity

Next Steps

• Messaging workshop with Andy Beaupre July 31

• Visual identity panel to make recommendations this summer

• Implement, test, repeat!