I heard a story yesterday that almost made me drop the phone. A college’s marketing team had hired a local agency to create a new logo. Okay, happens all the time. The odd part is that there was absolutely no research conducted. I mean none. No qualitative. No quantitative. No interviews with faculty or students. No surveys to figure out the image or brand the institution was trying to project. Very little internal input and zero external input. Just a designer and a blank page.
To me, this is not marketing – it’s art. The resulting logo can only be characterized as an expression of the designer’s creativity. But marketing is not (exclusively) an art. It’s a mission critical business function. And in this century, it’s strategic and data driven. Twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have been all that surprised by this story. Higher ed marketing was in its infancy, and we were just beginning to grow and develop as an industry. But today, this story sounds almost criminal to me. – especially when we have all seen so many logos debacles headlining the higher ed press.
I’m not saying that marketing is no place for creativity. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. But the work of writers, designers, and strategists who build logos, headlines, messages, and entire brand concepts should be driven by data and strategy. Without the appropriate marketing intelligence from internal and external audiences and without a clear messaging and brand strategy, our creative strategy is a house of cards. It won’t withstand criticism. It may not appeal to our target audiences. It may not last a leadership transition. It may end up costing our institution millions of dollars while accomplishing nothing in terms of visibility and reputation.
Every discussion about the creative aspects of your marketing program should begin with the data you have on the target audiences you mean to influence and the strategy you’ve built using that data. Then, unleash your writers, designers, and strategists to create for the purpose of advancing your brand.
