I collaborated with Erika Randall to design a wholesale rebranding of the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). According to findings so far, we successfully created a unifying identity, strengthened the college’s marketing and dramatically boosted stakeholder affinity.
The challenge
In spring 2022, Erika Randall, CU Boulder’s new associate dean for student success, and I met over a branding problem. The creative work, research and uniquely lived experiences of A&S’ diverse populations and 60+ fields of study held infinite difference and rich connection—making a singular brand a challenge. Because it was difficult to state A&S’ identity simply, the college was believed to be “too big to be marketable.”
We asked ourselves, how can we share forward A&S’ richness without being merely aspirational? How do we find a brand that embodies the distinct and different bodies that make up a college? In an era in which a faux aura of care and weaponized empathy predominates branding and communication, we looked to galvanize our students, alum, faculty and staff towards a common community—the College of Arts and Sciences—while not erasing the identities of each member of that community.
Discovery & Research
In April 2021, Noya Ouaknine and I ran a “brand sentiment survey” to gauge undergraduates’ satisfaction with A&S. While students expressed confidence in the quality of their education, A&S earned a -5.41 Net Promoter Score (NPS), meaning few students would recommend A&S to peers. For reference, a NPS of +20 is a common benchmark for a healthy brand.
Erika and I discussed A&S’ fragmented identity, reviewed and critiqued four prior, unsuccessful rebranding campaigns and brainstormed stronger messaging. We also read expansively, and we decided our brand needed to be created on a foundation of self-awareness, integrity and authenticity. That choice was informed by Stephen Farrugia’s 2023 Medium op-ed, The Fake Aura of Care in UX, Paul Boag’s article, Dark Patterns and Aggressive Persuasion—Three Reasons to Avoid and Paul Tough’s New York Times article, Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That?
Reflection for bias, jargon and anti-racism was informed by Mariappan Jawaharlal’s Inside Higher Education article, Why DEI Initiatives Are Likely to Fail and Laiduc and Covarrubias’ 2022 article in Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Making meaning of the hidden curriculum: Translating wise interventions to usher university change.
We also discovered that our primary audience, undergraduate students between ages 16 and 25, appreciate playfulness and irony—data affirmed by the communications preferences discussed in Matamoros-Fernández’ article for Sage Journal, Taking Humor Seriously on TikTok and anecdotal public relations monitoring of CU Boulder-related content on the social channels Instagram and TikTok.
Solutions
In her research and creative work, Erika had experimented with treating nouns, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions as verbs. We had already established A&S’ transdisciplinarity—or the manner our researchers wove multiple disciplines, interests, hobbies and identities into their scholarly and creative work. A&S also had revamped its curriculum to encourage exploration in diverse fields, thus incentivizing wide study across the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Erika and I decided that, at its core, A&S links the things we love—a coalescence of ideas, interests, research, identities and experiences.
We called this alchemic experience “ANDing.”
Visually, we felt the ampersand in A&S beautifully represented this collision, and we asked local artist Megan Odom to draft a logo that exhibited our belief that connection enlivens university scholarship and creative expression, sparks ideas and passions, and creates space for multiple paths, voices and human stories.
Given the challenge of adoption and affinity in prior rebranding attempts, we opted to begin our campaign using guerrilla tactics. We launched a podcast that spotlighted stories of faculty, students, staff and alum who actively participate in and pursue the alchemy of ANDing, and we named them ANDers. The podcast’s popularity increased the desirability of being labeled an ANDer, and people began seeking us out to share their ANDing stories and naming themselves ANDers in meetings and conversation.
We produced limited runs of higher-end swag, and we generally offered them to students, faculty, staff and alumni who participated in on-campus videos, donor events and other ANDing opportunities. Offering a few products that caught others’ attention sparked conversations (e.g., “how did you get that hat?”) that gave the ANDers opportunity to share their experiences of connecting with the college.
Kylie Clarke, A&S’ web and publications manager, and I collaborated on a redesign of the dean’s suite in Folsom Stadium. Our A&S communications team also put together its annual print magazine, designed by Clarke, with focus on ANDing stories. We also produced a donor guidebook used by our advancement team to generate momentum among our alumni to give.
Outcome
In May 2023, we re-ran the brand affinity survey and found our Net Promoter Score had jumped to +68. Students noted strong confidence in the quality of education they received in A&S, and expressed substantially higher likelihood to recommend CU Boulder to new prospective students.
The podcast continues to grow, with total listenership above 3,000 and regular listenership at 200 subscribers across platforms, encouraging us to pursue a third season.
Crucially, and what is honestly the most satisfying success, is that we continue to receive stories and affirming comments from people who attend events, meetings and keynotes, or who listen to the podcast. Many are thrilled that we’ve offered them vocabulary to express themselves in their full complexity—whether at CU Boulder or in their high schools and workplaces beyond our campus.
Other units and departments are now looking for ways they can develop their own identities under the blanket of ANDing. The A&S communications team has initiated several tactics to amplify the brand, and we are planning to offer a far more intentional end-to-end journey through A&S.
Additional tactics, such as keynotes, op-eds, events, display and commercial advertising are also in-works.
Team
Erika Randall
A&S Associate Dean for Student Success
Tim Grassley
A&S Director of Marketing & Content Strategy
Kylie Clarke
A&S Web and Communications Manager
Clint Talbott
A&S Assistant Dean of Communications
Ethan Geiger
Videography Intern
Noya Ouaknine
A&S UX Intern
Daniel Alas
A&S UX Intern
Megan Odom
Freelance Artist
Tim Grassley 