Brand awareness expert to conduct name assessment for College

From @Metro
Feb 10, 2010

Metro State's Board of Trustees passed a resolution at its Feb. 3 meeting to assess the College's name.

Beginning now and continuing through April, Sector Brands will conduct a name assessment to determine its contribution to the College's vision, loyalty, brand and image. Findings will be reported to the College beginning in June.

This assessment is part of a series of brand assessments that have been taking place since 2006.

"It's very natural for people to start going towards the discussion of a name change, but this is an assessment and we will not be talking about a name change," says Cathy Lucas, associate vice president of communications and advancement, who will oversee the process. "We look forward to the results."

According to Stacy Lewis with Sector Brands, the timing of the assessment couldn't be better. "When the economy turns south, it's a smart time to take a look at every aspect of your brand to make sure your organization is positioned for success."

She adds: "Like everything else, logo, publications, and messages, the name is just another element. It's not uncommon. It's best practice for any organization, higher education or otherwise, to take a look at things such as names and branding, especially when you are going through as much evolution as the College has in the last few years. This has come about literally as part of administration evaluating all of the factors of success for the school, including master's programs, advertising, admissions and First-Year Success. This literally falls in that bucket."

The question for all of these is "does [the name] support our mission of preeminence?" says Lewis, who notes that they are seeing a real spike among their clients wanting to do name assessments.

During the assessment, Sector Brands will implement a combination of methodologies with internal and external stakeholders. They expect to sample about 500 alumni and students through an electronic survey. In addition, they plan to have about 125 in-depth discussions through focus groups and individual interviews with community and business leaders on and off campus.

The assessment will explore the name's strengths, limitations and impact on the College's brand and reputation. A key audience during the study will be alumni, according to Lewis.

"Alumni have always been very vocal and concerned about the College on many levels," she says. The assessment is estimated to cost $25,000.