With the help of students enrolled in a marketing senior capstone class, Miami University is working toward re-developing its brand.
"We need to project our value in clear, compelling terms to prospective students," said President David Hodge during his annual address Oct. 6.
The class titled Highwire Brand Studio will craft a brand strategy for Miami this semester based on three key elements - academic excellence, a personalized experience and high rates of graduation and acceptance to graduate programs.
Dionn Tron, associate vice president for university communication, said competition within higher education has increased during the past ten years. She added that schools like University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University have already established their brands.
"We need to be more focused with how we talk about our core elements so that it resonates clearly," Tron said. "This is more important now more than ever because of the economy."
Tron said the 24 students formed four groups to complete research on Miami and its competitors before presenting their "Brand Positioning Statement" to an evaluation team.
The evaluation team consists of Hodge; Tron; Provost Jeffrey Herbst; Laurie Koehler, director of admission; Barbara Jones, vice president for student affairs; Jayne Whitehead, vice president for university advancement; Jonathan McNabb, student body president, and four alumni who specialize in marketing and branding.
The class presented its statements recently but not all members were present, Tron said.
"There was a lively discussion about it," Tron said. "We liked parts of all of them but no statement encompassed all three elements."
Hodge said it's important to know Miami is not changing its brand, but is sharpening it.
"It's a process to clarify and build our brand to convey better to the outside world what we're about," Hodge said.
Hodge said the goal of the class is to distill down the core points that make Miami special.
Michael McCarthy, professor of the marketing capstone, said he and a colleague met with Hodge when he first arrived to Miami in 2006, because Miami was having some branding issues surrounding logos and messages.
The idea of having students work on the brand came from Tron. McCarthy said Tron took the idea to Hodge and the decision was made a year ago.
McCarthy said the need for this class came from students choosing to attend other colleges instead of Miami.
"Miami's been very successful for a long time and hasn't had to think about their brand," McCarthy said. "Now with students choosing to go other places, Miami has started thinking about it."
The next step is for the students to form three teams to produce three different full marketing and branding programs for Miami. Tron said the class will focus on the most important audience, the prospective students and their parents, but can't forget about current faculty, staff and students.
Tron said the students are passionate and excited about this project.
She said the difficulty will be in the students stepping outside and describing Miami in a way so that someone who doesn't know Miami will understand it.
"It's good to have students of Miami who come up with the idea," McCarthy said. "This doesn't happen overnight; more discussion and development is needed."
Tron said the capstone class is in its third year and is usually commissioned by outside clients for marketing and branding help. This year Miami was chosen as the client and is paying $25,000 for the service. The money goes toward scholarships.
Tron said if Miami had hired an outside firm it would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Highwire Brand Studio does great work and they will offer a fresh perspective because they are young and look at things from a different angle," Tron said.
Tron said this branding project is important so that people don't hear conflicting ideas about Miami, but a focused and solidified brand.
The class will present its final proposals from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 8 in the large auditorium in the Farmer School of Business. The presentation is open to the public.
After the final presentation in December, Tron and an advisory committee will put the plans into action. She hopes to apply some ideas this spring and others during fall 2010.
Junior Brittney Rzucidlo, a creative writing major, said it's a good idea to bring these three elements to the eye of people.
"It makes more sense to use students because they are here and have better ideas," Rzucidlo said.
Senior Tom Hayden, a psychology major, said Miami is too dry in its approach and should incorporate the casual, fun elements of the school.
"Kids want to come to school and have fun while also getting an education," Hayden said. "Miami is showing too much of a strict picture. They portray themselves as an open and free liberal school but are so conservative; it's contradictory."
Hayden added that Miami paints a picture of academic excellence but is just like any other school.
He said he likes the idea of students working on Miami's brand.
"Students are young and know what would entice them to come to Miami," Hayden said. "There will also be less of a generational gap that comes with hiring an outside firm."
