Stunned to read tonight that the school I graduated from (and worked for, some years ago) has embarked on developing a new "branding" campaign. The branding part is not surprising, but the price tag--$350,000, paid to a Chicago firm--certainly is.
I am saddened by this because one reason I moved away was how difficult it was to move or advance as a professional employee of this institution. Far too many well-educated people with years of experience were competing for far too few jobs that paid far too little. FAQ aside, I'm having a hard time believing they couldn't find enough competent communications staff statewide to do this. And maybe I've been too long now in nonprofit-land, but the $300K price tag sounds far too expensive to me.
Finally, a moment of silence for the beleagured staff who will eventually have to implement--and live with--the results of this new initiative.
Posted at September 13, 2005 09:50 PMFun Fact from the FAQ!
"Noble BBDS doesn’t typically work in higher education, but it has worked with IU University Relations in the past. The firm has abundant experience with communicating the benefits of services for organizations like the Chicago Transit Authority and Country Insurance. "
The goal of the initiative is to bring cohesion to the messages and visual identity of all the campuses and units under the IU umbrella, while maintaining the distinctive character of each campus or unit.
It's been interesting as i've switched campuses (from Bloomington to Indianapolis) to watch the ways in which IU is attempting to consolidate its different schools under the IU banner. I'm personally in a weird liminal stage, where i'm registered at both campuses but only taking classes at one--i still seem to get the perks of being an IU(B) student even though i'm not anymore, i'm an IUPUI student.
My gut feeling/prediction is that the next 5-10 years will see a massive consolidation of the IU campuses into one mega-school with several facets.
Regardless, fascinating.
(And i totally resisted the urge to make any Myles Brand jokes...until now.)
-g-
Posted by: gollum on September 14, 2005 02:37 PMDoh!1 That first sentence "The goal of..." should have been in quotes. It's from the Integrated Image Initiative page, not my own words.
-g-
Posted by: gollum on September 14, 2005 02:38 PMSpeaking to gollum's comments: I think there is a battle brewing between IUB and IUPUI regarding which is IU. Certainly, IUB is the historical campus, but offices, staff, and students are seeing a blurring of the two, while it seems to me one of them wants to be on top.
It will be interesting to see who ends up on the bottom.
Posted by: Eve on September 17, 2005 03:25 PM