Category — 1 of Many

Now that NC State is starting to work on an updated strategic plan, I thought it would be interesting to review some of the plans from our peer universities.  Not as easy as it sounds.  Try it.  Go to Google and type in strategic plan university of XYZ.  You’ll be amazed by what comes up.  And what doesn’t.

I found the strategic communications plan for my alma mater quite easily (I actually have a copy in my file).  I’ve used the UF communications plan and sections of the plan to describe what we do (or I think we should do) at NC State  since I arrived in Raleigh.

UF does not have a written strategic plan for the entire university, or it didn’t when I left almost a year ago. Each unit (16 colleges ++) develops its own plan. The goals and objectives of the university president are established in conjunction with the UF Board of Trustees and the president reports on his progress toward those goals and objectives during the quarterly meetings of the BOT.

If you haven’t already visited the site, he’s a link to the UF Strategic Communications plan.  It’s good work and well considered.  UFStrategicCommunicationsPlan2009.  You should also check out the University of Florida Communications Network Website (UFCN.)  More good stuff.  http://ufcn.urel.ufl.edu/

To demonstrate the importance of strategic communications planning at Florida, the plan and work schedule of the planning committee can be found on the UF President’s Web site.  http://www.president.ufl.edu/committees/strategiccommunication/ The committee also makes regular reports to the External Relations sub-committee of the Board of Trustees.

Support from the top is critical if a plan is to be taken seriously and by placing the committee agenda, work plan and results on the President’s Web page, the “support from the top” can’t be missed.  Try not cooperating with a presidential committee. [Read more →]

NC State Student Body President Kelly Hook and her team have been collecting comments from students about what it means to be a member of the Wolfpack.  Here, in five paragraphs, is a synopsis of what they have heard.  Some of the responses have been edited

• Going to NC State means you are a member of a tradition that has been committed to innovation, exploration and having the desire to increase mankind’s knowledge not for personal gain, but for universal benefit (because we are a pack). –John Peterson

• Being a part of the Wolfpack means that I will enter the workforce equipped with so much more than just the tools I need to succeed. I also have a pack of friends, supportive professors and future colleagues. NC State is unique because we are a Pack. A Wolfpack. This Pack involves everyone from the faculty and staff to the students- and we are only getting tighter. No other University has the “Pack Mentality.”  -Kelly Hook

• It means always being part of a group. It means having a family of friends that will never go away. It means cheering the loudest your voice can hold at any game-even if we’re losing. It means late night study sessions in a huge library. It means having your pick of majors and minors with great professors for all. It means never being alone. You are a part of the Pack. –Megan Matal

• Going to NC State and being part of the Pack means everything to me! Personally it has meant the discovery of who I truly am as an individual, student, and a friend. Academically NC State has pushed me farther than I ever dreamt I could go. Looking back at long nights spent high in the stacks of D.H. Hill Library, I smile; I now know it was worth it. Also, you don’t have to be on campus very long to know NCSU is really so much more than just studying, classes, and grades. The always accepting and diverse environment on campus has taught me that it’s perfectly okay to be myself and by being true to who I am, I’ve formed friendships here that are sure to last a lifetime. Life at NC State is everything to who I am now, and who I will be in the future. –Jenna Jones

• Wolfpack of One. Living in a state of innovation. –Matt Woodward

No one would dare argue that with this group,

Passion Rules!

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

“The Law of the Jungle” is a poem from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

Passion Rules!

Taking the 4th of July as an opportunity to take some time off.  A good time to reflect on the key messages we’ve created, the strategic communications plan we still have to write, the reorganization of University Communications,  chancellor installation and the university strategic planning process.

And what better way to reflect than to paint!  You got it, paint.  I promised my daughter that I’d help paint her house in Gainesville before Hurricane Season.  Missed the deadline a bit, but green paint will be flying next week.  All four circus dogs will be at the same location too.  Drop me a line, folks in Gainesville, if you’d like to help or just want to visit.

When I get back we’ll begin work on the university’s marketing campaign for the coming season. We’ll be creating a new :30 second television commercial, new print ads, and more.

As always, your ideas and suggestions are encouraged.

Happy 4th of July!

Passion Rules!

Hard to believe it’s already July.  Even harder to believe (or so I’m told) that the merger of University Communications and CALS Communications Services is official as of today.  Creative Services and Web Communications moved to the Butler Communications Services Building about two months ago and we’ve been working together as a team since then, but there’s something to be said for the “official” beginning of anything.

http://www.ncsu.edu/university-communications/

I’m excited about the reorganization and believe the new structure will help us provide superior creative work and memorable solutions to the many communications “opportunities” that arise on a campus this large.  I also believe we’ll achieve our goal of exceeding customer expectations.  We want you to have the best possible experience with the new group and we’re determined to deliver.

It goes without saying that this reorganization would not have been possible without the courage of Dean Johnny Wynne from the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences as well as key staff members on both sides.  Charlie Leffler and Nevin Kessler also played key roles as did former Chancellor Jim Woodward.

Passion Rules!

As noted yesterday, when you’re reviewing the Key Messages, remember that we still need to develop themes for the supporting facts — themes that show impact [preferably involving multiple colleges] on issues that matter.  The supporting material that follows is grouped around areas that seem to make sense, but we need your input.

KEY MESSAGE II

Driving the economy every day

NC State provides results that drive the economy – bringing critical thinking skills and discipline-based knowledge to all sectors of society through education, dynamic discoveries, and solutions to real-world problems.

Fueling economic development

Producing leaders for the state, nation and world

$1 in state funding for NC State generates nearly $8 in total income for the state

Patents and products

680 U.S. Patents  (as of May 2010)

676 International Patents  (as of May 2010)

>110 better world products from lab to market

Start-ups and business incubator

The Technology Incubator has been worth $85 million to the local economy, by creating new companies, according to a RTI study completed in 2008

72 start-up companies, developed at NC State, representing more than $750 million in venture capital investment and more than 3,000 jobs in North Carolina.

Research conducted by students and faculty in the College of Engineering helped launch the highly successful North Carolina-based companies such as Cree, Red Hat, Nitronex, HexaTech, Silicon Semiconductor Corp., MiCEL, Kyma Technologies and many others. [Read more →]

When you’re reviewing the Key Messages, remember that we still need to develop themes for the supporting facts — themes that show impact [preferably involving multiple colleges] on issues that matter.  The supporting material that follows is grouped around areas that seem to make sense, but we need your input.

KEY MESSAGE I

Everything you can imagine

NC State, the largest university in North Carolina, provides big-school opportunities in a global innovation hot spot while fostering a tight-knit community in one of the nation’s most desirable places.

Producing leaders for the state, nation and world

Creating educational innovation

Our faculty members are thought leaders in their field—for example, Ann Ross, Walt Wolfram and Mike Walden are very NC focused. Find other faculty members who work internationally—maybe anthropology profs or engineering profs who collaborate with colleagues overseas.

Location and opportunities

To apply education through internships, research, co-ops and study with some of he world’s leading scientists and industry partners—locally, nationally, internationally.

Students’ senior projects involve real problems and collaboration with companies: Ex. College of Textiles, Engineering, Design

NC State’s Centennial Campus is home to industry, private-sector, non-profit, and governmental organizations, working alongside university faculty, staff and students.

NC State has 57 Centers & Institutes with 158 industry members including global partners such as DuPont, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Qianjiang Group Co., Ltd., RWTH Aachen University, Germany, Samsung, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Texas Instruments [Read more →]

Progress on the university-wide Key Messages is moving ahead.  During the next three or four days I’ll post the most recent work from the Public Relations & Marketing committee…great work, by the way.  Take some time to review the information and start to think about how you can incorporate the ideas into your daily, weekly, monthly, annual communications planning.

The posts will include a great deal of supporting information for each message and I encourage everyone to take that supporting information and build on it.  Create supporting messages that apply directly to your college and/or unit and you’ll have helped accomplish what we set out to do six months ago.

Its important to remember that the Key Messages merely provide the framework for our internal and external communications activities.  They represent a handful of concepts that seek to incorporate everything we do at NC State into a simple phrase.  I know a lot of you thought I was crazy when I asked for three or four sentences that would address everything that happens at NC State.  Well, we did it.

And Key Messages are not intended to be advertising tag lines, brochure copy or press release topics, though they could be.

When you’re reviewing the Key Messages, remember that we still need to develop themes for the supporting facts — themes that show impact [preferably involving multiple colleges] on issues that matter.  The supporting material that follows is grouped around areas that seem to make sense, but we need your input.

You’ve seen these before, but here are the three key messages (No. 4 was primarily for advertising purposes so I’m not going to include it here) with the basic points around each.

KEY MESSAGE I:
Everything you can imagine

NC State, the largest university in North Carolina, provides big-school opportunities in a global innovation hot spot while fostering a tight-knit community in one of the nation’s most desirable places.

Aligns with:

• Producing leaders for the state, nation and world
• Creating educational innovation

KEY MESSAGE II:
Driving the economy every day

NC State provides results that drive the economy – bringing critical thinking skills and discipline-based knowledge to all sectors of society through education, dynamic discoveries, and solutions to real-world problems.

Aligns with:

• Fueling economic development

KEY MESSAGE III:
Solutions for your world

NC State touches lives. With North Carolina roots and a global reach, we deliver solutions that anticipate and meet the needs of society.

Aligns with:

• Improving health and well being
• Driving innovation in energy and the environment

Passion Rules!

David Green sent this over today from the CASE  list serve.  Lots of Universities are asking questions about branding.  Brandy B. Aycock from Piedmont College is one of ’em who is asking.  Rob Moore with Lipman Hearne provides his thoughts.  Good reading and good insights.  Rob’s comments are in italic.

Happy Friday!
I am working on a project regarding college branding or rebranding.  I
was wondering if any of you have had experience with this in your
positions. Our alumni, development and communications departments are
all together with 6 staffers. I’ve done a lot of research and found many
articles, but I’d like to hear from those of you in the trenches.
Some questions:
1)      What do you think are the keys to success in a branding
initiative?
Presidential leadership. Solid base of market research. Shared
understanding among key leadership about the specific goals of the
initiative.
2)      What do you see as “the kiss of death” in branding?
Presuming you already “know” your brand.  You might know what you think
it is, or might know what you want it to be, but without market research
you don’t know where it resides in the minds of stakeholders—which is
where the brand actually lives.
3)      How long have you had your current brand in place?
This question is not answerable, if by brand you mean the place your
institution holds in the minds of its stakeholders. If you mean “brand
campaign” or a related public initiative to influence that brand
perception, the typical life of a brand campaign is 3-5 years—after
which it should be reexamined to see how it has changed the competitive
landscape and repositioned the institution. [Read more →]

A story in the media today implies that NC State has made the decision to go back to the “We all go to NC State” ad campaign of the mid-1990s.  That is not the case.

While I like the message at the end of the ad and have blogged about it here and talked about it around campus, we’re not ready to go there.  This is one of several directions we’re considering.  We haven’t even gotten the Chancellor involved in the discussion, and I can tell you, nothing will happen without his involvement.

So for now, keep the ideas coming.  The creative process doesn’t happen overnight.  Red does mean go at NC State.  NC State is North Carolina’s University (and North Carolina is a pretty cool state). And when we have big challenges to address and problems to solve, we look to NC State.

Have a great holiday.

Passion Rules!

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