Ketievia Segovia has a personal story to tell. She
came to Metro State as a student when she was 47 years old. She worked
full time while attending school and graduated with a double major in
history and English. She went on to earn a master’s degree and now is
an adjunct professor in Metro State’s English Department.
“Metro State gave me a fantastic education,” Segovia said to
the more than 250 faculty and staff who attended the Brand Launch
Tuesday in St. Cajetan’s.
It is these personal stories--combined with the consistency of key
messages--that will help bring Metro State’s new brand to life,
according to Stacy Lewis, the consultant hired to do the message
training for the launch event. Lewis and her associates had performed
the communications audit for the College last year as part of the
Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) initiative. (To read more
about the IMC go to www.mscd.edu/news/imc.)
Lewis said that as Metro State employees, each of
us has a story to tell about the ways in which the College has helped a
student find success. David Kottenstette, associate professor of design
and technical theatre, talked of how theatre students get to try
everything they’ve learned on stage. He also noted the program’s
accessiblity for all students, telling the story of student with polio
who’d learned scene painting. Assistant Director of Admissions Paul
Cesare spoke of the service the College provides in offering
transcripts for free, and Marketing Professor Nancy Frontczak said that
in marketing “we talk about benefits over price and one benefit that
all our students love is our small classes.”
The audience was encouraged to think of ways they can tell their own stories, using the key messages of:
- High-quality education
- Relevant, enriching and individualized academic experiences
- Urban and diverse
- Best value in higher education
A culture shift
In his speech, President
Stephen Jordan said that is important to unify and strengthen Metro
State’s image, enhance the College’s name recognition and build our
brand identity. “It’s time for a culture shift, which quite frankly
will only come from an inside-out effort. We must assume pride and tell
the Metro State story,” he said.
Stating that all faculty and staff contribute to Metro State’s
success, Jordan singled out several faculty and staff members for
recognition, including five who are the subjects of posters produced by
the Office of College Communications in what will be an ongoing
internal campaign to drive home the point that Metro State’s new
tagline, “Where success begins with you,” applies to not just students,
but to everyone at College.
Another central part of this effort is the College’s new identity
standards for use in all official communications: letterhead, business
cards, brochures, Web pages, etc.
Jordan announced that the President’s Office will pay for the first
order of business cards of all tenured and tenure-track faculty and
staff, as well as cards with contact information that part-time faculty
can use. Letterhead will also be available at a 50 percent discount.
Moving forward
The Office of College Communications has
established Brand Central where College employees can find all the
resources they need, including the Identity Standards Manual,
downloadable logos, an editorial style guide that explains the key
messaging, the Power Point presentation on message training and more.
Go to www.mscd.edu/brandcentral.
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| More than 250 people attended the Brand Launch to learn about Metro State’s new brand identity and key messaging. |
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| Associate Professor David Kottenstette of the Theatre Program shared his story about the student with polio who learned to how to paint scenes. |
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