Brands with Vision: Moving from the Big Reveal to Agile Brand Development
Brands often debut through “big reveals,” then go through extensive revisions. With this scenario, the creative often gets watered down, such as a tagline plastered on the same old tools. The key players — exhausted by multiple rounds of second-guessing — can lose faith in the solutions.
Our Zehno–Union College team share an alternative approach: iterative brand visioning, mood boards and brand blueprints. Instead of costly multiple rounds to “get it right,” this agile process delivers more efficient, cost-effective solutions that people trust and are eager to put to work. The process depends on strong collaboration, a willingness to take strategic stands and measured risks, and a vision of different ways to reach audiences. The result: a platform for people to speak in one voice, infusing the brand into the institutional experience and culture.
Magazines on a Mission: Reshape Your Magazine into a Strategic Brand Tool
When the budget-slashers descend on your office, will you be prepared to answer their big question: “What does the magazine actually accomplish?” This session focuses on magazine strategy and highlights how to transform the institution’s magazine from a coffee-table curio to a strategic tool by choosing brand stories, mapping the editorial structure to institutional goals, presenting information in modern ways, maximizing integration with the print and digital magazine, and sharing content with campus stakeholders to amplify the messaging.
Divine Inspiration: Where to Find Inspiring Ideas and How to Put Them to Work
Great work sprouts from a great idea. But when work is piling up and clients are grumbling, who’s got time to seek inspiration? In this session, two hard-core “recyclers” confess their sins and track innovative and award-winning projects back to their sources of inspiration. Attendees learn where to find inspiration, how to reshape and reinterpret a great piece, and how to rekindle the creative spark.
Guest speaker:
Gail Glover, senior director of communications and marketing at Union College