Insights

Before you share your story, listen to theirs. Institutions across the U.S. have adjusted just about every aspect of their operations as they respond to the effects of COVID-19. How they market themselves must change, too. Here's how to adjust your college’s content...

Ownership of a place, a spot on the earth that matters to you profoundly, is part of the college experience. It’s where one comes of age. Where one chose to be. It’s not the home sweet home of one’s parents nor a favorite vacation spot. It’s where one becomes the...

This comment was posted in response to an article by Paul Redfern in Inside Higher Education about brand development, specifically the long-standing and successful brand work done at Gettysburg College. The story was then picked up by Elephant Creative, a UK marketing...

Frank Bruni raises an interesting point about college majors in his May 26, 2018 opinion piece in the New York Times, “Aristotle’s Wrongful Death.” While I’m largely in agreement with Bruni’s opinion that the structure of majors and minors in college curriculum is not...

Every college and university is under pressure to evolve in response to the changing market for higher education, but for some, the evolution that is necessary to re-establish institutional viability seems more like a revolution. How do schools make "revolutionary"...

In the early stages of building a brand, just about every institution we encounter has the same questions and concerns: How will we engage all constituent groups? How much more work will it be for the marketing team? Will it stick for the long-term? Experience tells...

Is your campus team hard at work managing your brand? If so, you’re likely making decisions about what content to produce to feed your marketing campaign. If you’re like most schools, you’re in the mode of collecting stories about the impressive accomplishments of...

Improving storytelling is not just a simple matter of ensuring the college or university is portrayed as a catalyst or important ‘character’ within each story; it’s also about being bolder, braver, and more willing to create tension. Dramatic story telling involves...

When Aretha Franklin performed the song, (You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman at the Kennedy Center Honors awards ceremony, the honoree, Carole King, said it “put her rungs higher on the levels of joy.” I can relate. Though I’m not able to carry a tune, I’ve been...