Texas Border Business –
McAllen, Texas – Since its humble beginnings 20 years ago, South Texas College has transformed into a first class institution of higher learning, breaking barriers and setting a new standard.
As an institution, evolving has been a necessary part of the process with enrollment reaching over 31,000 in 2014. Throughout the state and nation, South Texas College is revered for modeling success. The college has been honored for its dual enrollment program and for being one of only three community colleges in Texas approved by the Texas Higher Education Board to offer bachelor degrees.
Although it was clear that those within the institution knew how the college had evolved and the impact it has on our region, the growing concern was that the local communities it serves were not fully aware of these successes.
To change this, the college’s public relations and marketing team knew it had to evaluate messaging and public perception.
“A college’s brand identity is the most important element of its visual image,” said South Texas College Public Relations and Marketing Director Daniel Ramirez. “Because of its potential for credibility and influence, and the impression it has on the public, a brand identity can be considered the foundation of all marketing and communication efforts.”
Rebranding an insti-tution that has been present in the community for over two decades is certainly an ambitious goal. To accomplish this, the college enlisted the help of Richards/Carlberg, a Houston area ad agency with a proven track record of working with higher education institutions.
“We took a fresh look at all of our existing brand assets,” explained Ramirez. “With the guidance of Richards/ Carlberg we determined that we needed to focus on three primary goals: develop our brand promise, update the college logo and develop a campaign to support the rebranding.”
Through a collaborative process called Spherical® branding, the teams from South Texas College and Richards/Carlberg embarked on developing a brand that would stand the test of time.
“A brand is not a name, a logo or even an ad campaign,” he explained. “A brand is a promise, one that lives in all forms of written and verbal communications and at every touchpoint, both on and off campus. Out of the Spherical® branding process came our brand promise: Turning Hope Into Reality.”
With the brand promise in hand, the college focused its attention on its logo.
“We designed more than forty logos and reviewed with college stakeholders,” explained Chuck Carlberg, Principal/Brand Creative for Richards/Carlberg. “We took their input, created new logos, added a new color palette and listened to and learned from what they had to say.”
During this process, those who viewed the proposed samples voiced their connections to some of the aspects of the original logo. Their response was too great to ignore. “The vast majority appreciated the legacy of the original logo design,” said Carlberg. “So we revised that original concept and then tested once again. The evolved design conjured up powerful symbolism for those who viewed it. People saw diversity, they saw generations of students on the shoulders of others rising up in the world. They saw their own educational journey in the logo.”
With an updated logo representative of the college’s new brand, the team looked towards the campaign.
“After extensive brainstorming and developing multiple campaign directions, we honed in on an aspirational campaign featuring actual students who personified the diversity of the college’s student body. It is our belief that in the portrayal of real students and their aspirational stories, prospective students would find elements to relate to and be inspired.”
The “In the Making” campaign – which is being executed in a variety of mixed media channels such as television, radio, digital and out-of-home – launched in mid-November of 2014. The campaign is the culmination of an over a year and a half process.
“Rebranding South Texas College was a true team effort. The collaboration involved South Texas College marketing staff, executive committee members, STC President Shirley A. Reed, members of her cabinet and the board of trustees,” said Carlberg.
“We have created a strong brand that will last for years to come,” said Ramirez. It is designed in a way that allows us to continue sharing the dreams and aspirations of our students with an emotional tie. The new brand, like South Texas College, is self-evolving. We will continue to showcase the success of our students and allow their stories to reflect the elevation of South Texas College in our community.” TBB
