'Great Minds' University Branding Campaign

With more than 4,400 colleges and universities in the United States, attracting high-achieving undergraduate and graduate students has become increasingly competitive. As a result, sophisticated marketing and branding campaigns are required to help institutions such as Seton Hall differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace and achieve their strategic goals. Effective and consistent branding campaigns can help a university not only achieve its student enrollment goals but also enhance its national reputation, engage alumni and increase donor support.

The Catholic mission, a Branding Task Force was established that included representatives from the Board of Regents, Provost's Office, Enrollment Management, University Advancement and the faculty.

Based on the research data and University's mission, the firm created a comprehensive brand strategy that includes new key messages, a University tagline, national image ads, graduate program ads and an undergraduate admissions view book. To highlight Seton Hall's rigorous academics, faculty expertise, student achievement and alumni success, Lipman Hearne developed the "What Great Minds Can Do" tagline. The tagline is versatile and can be used in all University, school, college and administrative office communications.

"The new 'Great Minds' tagline directly supports one of the University's top strategic goals of highlighting our distinctive academics and scholarly research," noted Dan Kalmanson, associate vice president for Public Relations and Marketing. "The new branding campaign will allow us to showcase the high-level research and scholarship being conducted by our students and faculty as well as the success of our alumni. This is our opportunity to show the world how great Seton Hall really is."

One of the most effective communications channels for branding will be the University's website which will now feature a different student, faculty or alumni "Great Mind" each week on its homepage. In addition, all of the undergraduate admissions communications pieces have been redesigned to reflect the new branding strategy.

For the new branding campaign to be effective, Public Relations and Marketing is asking all of our schools, colleges and administrative offices to begin incorporating the new "Great Minds" tagline in their external communications including brochures, flyers, stationery, business cards, e-mail signatures, Powerpoint presentations, etc. and has created an online Branding Tool Kit which includes a comprehensive brand style guide as well as samples of the new branding materials. The office will work closely with its campus partners to align their marketing communications with the University's new brand strategy.

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