SimpsonScarborough is 10 years old! As I reflect back on the past decade, I’m struck by how much has changed. We moved from Pennsylvania Avenue in DC to King Street in Old Town Alexandria. We have two new partners. We have 15 more employees. Our colors are purple and cyan rather than our original navy blue and orange. Our Dells have been replaced by MacBook Airs. Our monthly all-staff conference calls are now called “Collaboration Calls.” We used to be known primarily for our crisis communications consulting; now we are doing some of our best work in our new creative services division. One thing that hasn’t changed is our “work hard, play hard” sensibility; stop by the office to try out our ping pong table, 28-foot white board wall, and hoverboard!
When we started in 2006, the field of higher education marketing looked a lot different, too. Most of our clients were Directors or maybe Executive Directors of Communications. Today, they are almost all AVPs or VPs of Marketing and/or Strategic Communications. They used to report to the VP of Advancement; now they report directly to the President. Marketing departments used to look like news bureaus or internal Kinko’s. Now, they operate strategically and proactively. Their work is integrated with other units around campus. Rather than printing thousands of brochures, they post thousands of tweets. “Marketing” and even “branding” are words higher ed marketers can now say out loud.
I’m also struck by how much has stayed the same. Despite the rhetoric, higher education is still an incredible investment, with bachelor’s degree holders earning 66% more than their counterparts with only a high school diploma. And the need for data persists; it will always be critical to be able to not only understand but also to quantify the attitudes and opinions of our key stakeholders.
As we look back over the last 10 years, we are most thankful for the 221 institutions we’ve had the privilege to work with. We appreciate every single one. Our work together is exciting, challenging, and deeply invigorating. We love higher ed. We love research. We love branding and bringing it all to life creatively.
We’re so grateful for the many great partnerships and talented people we’ve met along the way. And we’re thrilled to be celebrating this milestone. If you live anywhere near the DC area, be on the look out for an invite to our 10th anniversary party this summer!
