Branding

Disclaimer: this post ended up being brainstorming on my branding concepts and ideas. It was helpful, but I actually answer the prompt towards the bottom :)




In any organization or business, their brand is their image and the culture associated with that specific good or service. There are various components that make up a brand for example: a logo, employees and the customer. The brand is the overall experience that customers work away with. For BYUSA our branding is very extensive; we have a range of "goods" that benefit the student body in a number of ways. We offer opportunities for students to serve, and we also offer many opportunities for students to be served in the form of dances, clubs, SAC, concerts, and various programs. Collectively, the opportunities to serve and be served help contribute to a more Zion-like community here on BYU Campus, which is the vision of BYUSA. 


The vision of BYUSA is: As a part of a BYU education, the Student Service Association's vision is to be leaders centered on Jesus Christ, who contribute to the building of Zion communities which are united in heart and mind that there be no intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, or physically poor among us.


From this vision, the ideal way that we as an organization would desire to be viewed would be that we are a diverse group of individuals that come from all walks of life united in serving the wonderful diverse and unique BYU campus that we all belong to. We all uphold and endorse the honor code and live our lives in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ, with him as the ultimate example of the leader of leaders. We invite others to be a part of the service by getting involved and enjoy the blessings that are available to them through service. We also invite students to enjoy the various events we put on, various clubs they can be a part of, and the opportunities they have to share their opinions about campus life. Our efforts in combining service with being served result in a unified BYU campus. 


To then describe our current brand in the eyes of the public is that BYUSA is full of nice/snooty/stuck-up kids who were involved in leadership/student government in high school, they love serving and helping people (if they understand that we're a service organization), they are "Molly Mormon"'s and "Peter Priesthood"'s who have always been that way. 


I think we are perceived this way is because we are only approaching our advertising and branding in terms of people being a part of us. No one likes to be told what to do, and so that puts them on the edge and puts us in a position to be judged by our immediate outward appearance. Which lends to our biggest branding faux pas - students and our generation associate themselves with the type of people who are associated with the organization. If they can't connect or feel like it's something cool then they have no incentive to join or be a part of it. 


We have been branding ourselves as the place where "Molly Mormon" and "Peter Priesthood" can come and re-live their glory days in high school, but this time in college! We haven't been advertising to the right Psychographics (def: The use of demographics to study and measure attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions, as for marketing purposes.)


Now... How do we fix this?! We don't want to be branded like this because it's NOT TRUE! We are so diverse and we all love service and helping others and creating a more zion-like community, but we are still ourselves. We still have our unique interests and quirky personality traits that make us who we are, we're not perfect and we honestly don't profess to be. 


We fix this by showing that we are diverse and just like everyone else on campus because we are. We're all BYU students, and some of us choose to serve in BYUSA. 






I will expand on the "How" later. Now to actually answer the prompt...


It is vital that our branding be consistent because reputations are built on experiences, and experiences can be as small as a phone call into our office from a professor or student, or a student reading a banner on campus. Everything we promote, say, do has the name of BYUSA associated with it, and one bad experience for someone means one negative view of BYUSA. People these days are more likely to share a bad experience than a good experience. So we need to make sure people are spreading good experiences. Every poster we pay for, every banner we set up, every facebook status we post needs to be consistent with our branding, to help ensure we are creating positive experiences. 


As for the Style and Marketing guide... it was helpful, I learned more of how we perceive ourself and what we offer as an organization. Everything in the Brand description is assuming that the audience is going to be proactive and looking for opportunities to get involved. It also approaches the organization from the level of "Come and be a part of us". Another thing I learned was the pyramid of how to get results. I think we need to focus a lot more on experiences, so that is what my focus for this years branding campaigns will be.