CASE STUDY III: LAUNCH INSTITUTIONAL BRAND
Photo credit: Matthew Sussman
SITUATION
A global university in Greenwich Village, The New School had gone through many identity changes in its nearly 100-year history. Founded in 1919 as a bastion of intellectual and artistic freedom for persecuted scholars and a provider of non-degree courses for working adults, The New School had, by 2005, morphed into a full-service university, with more traditional undergraduate and graduate offerings, especially in the fine and performing arts and the social sciences. Yet there was little awareness that the renowned Parsons School of Design was part of The New School, or that the university had a traditional liberal arts undergraduate school, the Eugene Lang College.
Devoid of an overarching marketing strategy, the university lacked coherent branding and positioning. Every school did its own thing—rarely a good thing. To remedy this situation, the university hired Nancy Donner for the newly created position of Vice President for Communications and External Affairs in 2005. Nancy was charged with building a cohesive department where none existed, launching a new brand, and keeping The New School's visibility high and its message consistent to external and internal audiences. The challenge was not only to get outside constituents to understand the university's new brand, but also to get internal stakeholders (faculty, students, staff, and board members) to buy into a new, holistic identity.
OVERARCHING GOAL
Launch a new unifying brand to build institutional awareness and understanding for a progressive university with a complicated organizational structure.
TACTICS
Working with an outside branding consultancy, Siegel+Gale, The New School launched a new brand that:
Changed the name of the university from "New School University" to "The New School."
Altered the names of each of the eight disparate schools within the university, integrating the words "The New School" into each.
Created an edgy graffiti-like visual identity that played off the progressive, boundary-blasting, ever-evolving spirit of the university.
Developed a visual language that spoke to this bold and edgy identity, creating playful and thought-provoking imagery for use in all print and digital materials.
Ensured consistent use of this graphic style across all mediums and, for occasions when the in-house design department could not take on an assignment, developed an Identity Toolkit for academic and administrative staff to use when making their own materials.
RESULTS
As press, public, and internal stakeholders began using the new naming structure, it created a more comprehensive understanding of The New School's complexity and holdings. Increased publicity for each of the individual schools served to heighten awareness and bolster the reputation of larger university.
The graphic identity unified the eight (now seven) schools, while seamlessly linking print publications and collateral to the web, advertising, campus signage, merchandise, and video products.
