Presidents' Blogs and Branding... a missed opportunity for most
Yesterday, during a break from sessions at the AMA marketing symposium here in San Diego, I started reviewing the 25 blogs from from college and university presidents listed at http://bobjohnsonconsulting.com/blog1/2007/07/15_presidents_who_blog_saint_v.html
In this case, I was looking to see how many of the blogs included any type of branding or positioning statement at the start of the blog page. And I was surprised to see that almost none of them took advantage of that opportunity. There were some exceptions:
- Pat McGuire's Trinity Washington University blog at http://www.trinitydc.edu/offices/president/blog/ reminds us that Trinity stands for "Innovation, Integrity, Influence."
- The strongest use of a branding element is at Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, where MaryLynn West-Moynes' blog lets us know that Mohawk stands for "Inspiring Learning, Leadership, and Citizenship" at http://blogs.mohawkcollege.ca/blog/president/
And there should be a special note for Dick Celeste at Colorado College. His blog at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/welcome/presidentsoffice/blog/ had a rare title, "Flow of Ideas," that provides a nice introduction to the experience of reading his postings.
And while on the subject of presidents, people here at the Symposium had a special treat yesterday at the lunch time keynote to hear a talk by Dickinson College president William Durden on the 10-year transformation of an ailing if not failing residential liberal arts college into a thriving place with increased applications, restored alumni pride, and a much larger endowment.
The most telling measure in the Dickinson story is the dramatic drop in the tuition discount rate from 50 percent to 30 percent. More than any other single measure, the discount rate for private institutions tells the tale about competitive strength.
It was a great presentation.