 |
Connecting
learning to life, and connecting UW-Green Bay to its future
In its 35 years of existence, I’m told, the University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay has never had a comprehensive, all-campus “tag line.”
Or, if it did, never one that was consistently applied or widely embraced.
That’s about to change.
In two weeks, on Wednesday, April 16, in a brief program
at our second annual student Aca-demic Excellence Symposium, we will mark the
rollout of our coordinated marketing campaign.
Those of you familiar with the Marketing Council’s work
and its “Connecting Learning to Life” strategy won’t be surprised.
You can expect to see UW-Green Bay more and more displaying the theme of “connecting.”
To have arrived at this point is an achievement in itself,
and to be able to move forward in possession of a professionally crafted plan
that so neatly fits our larger strategic aims is an even greater accomplishment.
The faculty and staff of our Marketing Council have done excellent work.
Nevertheless, I feel it necessary to repeat the admission
I’ve made several times over the last year: Like many academics, the word
“marketing” has a tendency to make the hair stand up on the back of
my neck.
It is our nature to be skeptical. It’s somehow too easy
to associate the word “marketing” with misrepresentation or puffery.
There’s discomfort with the idea of some sort of “hard sell,”
or worse, hollow sloganeering.
Just the opposite characterizes successful marketing, of
course. Real strengths are critically examined and, if they pass scrutiny, they
are adopted as a common language for telling your organization’s story.
You identify what you’re good at, how that fits with others’ needs,
and you are accurate and consistent in communicating that match.
|
|
Marketing the "Chancellor's Chili" at this spring's taste
test was a matter of smiling service and friendly persuasion. With regard to a
larger, ongoing issue — marketing UW-Green Bay — it helps to have a
superior product, which we do, and cnsistent communication, which we're pursuing.
|
|
