As reported at the April 23, 2010 Staff Senate meeting, University Marking Committee, as report by Shana Wold, she reported that Kevin Connolly will give the convocation announcement.  A study prepared for President Cruzado noted that 12.6% of Montana High School graduates are coming to MSU.  Many students are attracted to MSU because we have both book learning and real life experience like Engineers without Borders.

As reported at the 12/09/2009 Staff Senate meeting – Shana reported the Committee is updating MSU’s web page templates, there is a new MSU billboard at Big Sky, and targeted mailings are being sent to groups such as veterans, and Montana’s Indian tribes.

September 10, 2008

  1. Cathy Conover discussed MSU's top recruiting priority: Montana high school students
    We are perceived to be more expensive than other Montana schools and academically more challenging.
    A list of recruiting ideas will be presented to President Gamble this month in hopes of generating new ideas. If anyone has a recruiting idea, please feel free to email them to Cathy in Communications and Public Affairs.
  2. Ron Lambert, the new Art Director of Creative Services in Communications and Public Affairs presented MSU's most recent marketing publications
    The New View Book is still considered a critical piece in recruiting efforts. They are trying to make it more targeted, more strategic in reaching the high school population.
    Personalized marketing information is being sent to perspective students. The material is addressed to each individual student and comes from the department heads of the program they are interested in.
    A collegian calendar, featuring student drawings of buildings on campus, is being used as a fundraising tool with alumni.
  3. Leigh Cook, marketing specialist in communications and public affairs, discussed the review of the new view book conducted with Montana high school 4-H members.
    The students gave the new view book and a high rating and thought it was a good recruiting tool.
    hey thought it contained too much text and many of the students featured in the picture did not look "college age."
    They enjoyed photos of interaction and outdoor scenes. They did not like posed shots.
    they shared that their number one reason to go to MSU was that it was close to home and in state.
    The biggest barrier was cost.
    They said they find most of their information on line and then trust word of mouth next.
    They also rated their reaction to the recent MSU commercials and listed "The Power of Yellowstone & Yellowstone Science" as the most memorable.
  4. Leigh Cook presented general updates:
    There is a new media backdrop available for offices to borrow. You may request it through conference services (could be a nice background when filming talks or lectures).
    The Parade of Homes this year will feature a home that has a room decorated in Bobcat gear.
    Brochure cards will be promoting Blue & Gold Fridays and MSU gear.
    The communications office gave out MSU pencils, chap stick, and stickers at Catapoolza this year.
    Cut outs of the "Champ" should be available in October.

April 4, 2007
1. Ad campaign proposal is moving forward nicely. There were 6 professional proposals submitted. On April 19th, the top 3 chosen will present their designs publicly. Watch MSU Today for location and times of presentations.

2. A Branding Toolkit will be issued to each office (mid April to early May). It describes historical background behind our design and how to further implement it on campus.

3. Mountains and Minds Magazine will be mailed Monday April 9th to 12,000 people.
*The recipients include dues paying alumni and key constituents.
*This may be the only issue this year, but by 2008 a two year subscription may be purchased. The price of the subscription is still being debated.
*The magazines will also be placed in the bookstore for retail as well. Price has yet to be determined.
*Access to the magazine will be made online. All articles, and most photos, will be available.
*Focus groups will be organized to get more feedback on design, layout, writing, and etc.
* The cover photo illustrates our connection with Yellowstone and the research MSU faculty conduct in the Grand Teton National Park.

4. A MSU Survey of Montanans was mailed to random households in Bozeman. In 2004, a similar survey was issued. The number of responses were down this year, but MSU's rating in the public eye shifted from Good to Excellent. New questions were included in the survey and are being reviewed for accuracy.

January 10, 2007
Image Ad Campaign Plan Update:
UPBAC has allocated funding to develop an Image Building Ad campaign that will promote MSU and further drive our brand messages to key external audiences. What follows is a brief summary of the goals, target audiences and geography, budget and timeline. The ad campaign strategy links directly to the integrated Marketing Plan and acts on recommendations made in the Communications Audit of 2004.

Goals/objective: Integrate MSU Brand into the hearts and minds of our key target audiences. Promote our brand strengths as a means to build our image and reputation on a regional basis.

Target Audiences:
Primary: State of Montana
Secondary: Rocky mountain region, key recruiting and alumni markets such as Colorado, Washington and Minnesota
Budget: $100,000 in FY 07, $150,000 in FY 08

Timeline:
Issue RFP for film production: February- March 2007
Award RFP: April 2007
Develop creative and begin filming: April-July 2007
Launch Campaign: August 2007

Potential Media Placements
TV Media:
Broadcast
Bresnan Cable
Statewide

Daily Newspapers:
Newspapers serving the major cities of Montana (TBD based on campaign themes and needs)

Magazines: (Upscale audience, Montana enthusiast type)
Montana Magazine
Montana Quarterly
Big Sky Journal
Skywest Magazine

Web CBS Sports Extra:
Highlights high school sports state wide

Other Notes:

  1. A new position in the Office of Communications & Public Affairs titled Marketing Specialists has been created and should be filled by the end of next month. This person's responsibilities will include content development, copy writing, ad copy writing, research, focus groups, etc.
  2. The Marketing Advisory Council would like to encourage each office to institute an email tag (typically under the signature line and office information) on all emails that highlights MSU. An example would be our Carnegie Classification or something important and specific to your department at MSU.
  3. The MSU University Magazine is on track to be mailed at the end of March.
  4. Many colleges have created MSU branded general recruitment folders with inserts for each major
  5. A public opinion survey will be mailed to a random sampling of 3000 Montana households at the end of January. This is a similar survey to the one that was done in 2004 and is being repeated in an attempt to gauge progress on our marketing and brand messages.

May 10, 2006 Ina Lou Mathisen reported:

As the successful implementation of the new logo and other MSU branding elements has progressed, the Marketing Advisory Council has given feedback responses and recommendations to assist in maximizing the effectiveness of this project.

A 'hi-lite' event on March 7 was the first 'Breakfast of Champions' with President Gamble recognizing 'brand champions' from across campus who excelled in implementing the new MSU brand in creative and compelling ways.

The complete article is available on the web at: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3478

Among other projects discussed are the new web homepage and portal with branded templates, the Bobcat Youth Mark 'CHAMP!', branded brochures and other printed materials with branded publication styles, visibility at the airport and other Gallatin Valley entrances.

A complete and comprehensive Integrated Marketing Plan is currently in the draft stages.

June 14, 2005 - President's Listserv announcement:
Since our announcement of a new MSU logo choice on May 4, we have received many inquiries about when the new logo will be ready for use. We are thrilled with the enthusiastic response, and wanted to give you the timeline for when all graphics files will be ready for use. Over the next few months, we will be creating the brand extensions (the special marks for each College and other agencies), the graphic identity guidelines (rules for use) and other graphic identity materials. We anticipate the logo being in full use by this fall, with the following timeline in place for this summer. You can see the full schedule on the Integrated Marketing Web site at: http://www.montana.edu/ur/docs/brandletter.html

If you have any questions, contact Julie Kipfer ([email protected]) or Suzi Taylor ([email protected]). And thank you for the enthusiastic response to the new MSU logo.

May 3, 2005 - Ina Lou Mathisen reports:
Integrated Marketing and New Logo Development

Several months ago the process began of developing a new logo and accompanying tagline for the University. This included research on MSU's positioning information in the minds of our audiences of prospective and current students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, donors and friends. The resulting brand identity will be used in all communications from the University, marketing and sales, web signage guidelines with branded photography, and media presentations as well as other applications.

A Steering Committee was established, key groups were interviewed and background information was collected by survey, discussion, brainstorming sessions, focus groups, target audience testing, and other methods of input. Meetings were held to include the many representative groups on campus.

As a component of the logo development, the same processes were being applied to the tagline.

The design team was selected and presented various proposals. The process continued with opportunities for feedback and review as the brand identity was refined.

In the next stage, two proposals were presented. After additional input, a recommendation was made to President Gamble who has been presenting them to the governance groups. An announcement is expected later this week.