Guru Mantra: Rex Whisman, Principal, BrandED

Rex Whisman
Principal
BrandED consultants group
http://www.brandchampionsblog.com/
303-777-0829
rwhisman@BrandEDus.net

Rex Whisman is principal of the Denver-based, BrandED consultants group. Prior to founding BrandED, Rex was the assistant vice chancellor for communications and marketing at the University of Denver , where he led one of the first inside out approaches to higher education brand development. Rex is a blogger, brand strategist and keynote speaker. He has presented at numerous conferences and institutions in Australia , Canada , Europe and the United States . Rex is a member of the United Kingdom-based Academy of Marketing and the vice president for brand management at the Colorado Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Rex is a recognized international thought leader in higher education brand building, and develops strategies that allow institution’s to align their internal culture and external reputation. Rex believes a sustainable brand is based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement. He advocates building a brand that honors the history and traditions of the institution, positioning it in a modern context, and executing the brand strategy through social media, mobile marketing and other technology.


Rahul- What are some of the unique challenges in building education brands as compared to other industries? How do you propose to overcome these challenges?
Rex- Brand building is still relatively new to higher education. Other industries such as financial services, health care, retail, transportation and other industries embraced branding much earlier than higher education. It might appear on the surface that the challenges in higher education are unique, but they are not. Organizations and industries go through an evolutionary process of brand building. In the early stages most organizations simply replace terms like advertising and marketing with the word branding. Many higher education institutions started their brand building efforts by limiting their approach to these visual representations. Once organizations realize that approach does not work and is not sustainable, the organization begins to believe that brand is more about developing a culture to support the mission and vision of the organization. This is where authentic brand building starts. I believe higher education as an industry is now at this point in the process.

In the book, Taking Brand Initiative, authors Mary Jo Hatch and Majken Schultz discuss three waves of branding. During the first wave, a marketing mind-set is established when communications and marketing professionals are charged with leading an organizational brand initiative. The approach is usually about visual executions that target external audiences like prospective customers and does not involve many internal stakeholders. After having little or no effect on the organization, a second wave, or corporate mind-set, hits the organization. During this phase internal stakeholders like those in human resources get involved and the brand building efforts begin to focus more on mission, core values and culture. The third wave is an enterprise mind-set where all touch points internally and externally are in alignment. I would say LEGO, Southwest Airlines and Starbucks are good examples of an enterprise mind-set. My vision is for all institutions of higher learning to achieve an enterprise mind-set.


Rahul- You have extensive experience in education branding and have also published a paper on internal branding for universities . What are the top two trends you are witnessing in the practice of education branding?
Rex- Most colleges and universities have taken what I would call a traditional approach to branding. They have created a new visual identity, developed a tagline and spent a good amount of money on annual advertising campaigns. At the same time the economy is forcing institutions to do more with less. As a result, colleges and universities are moving into the next phase in the natural evolution of brand building. They are coming to the realization that they need to engage their employees more in the brand building process, especially their faculties. Institutions are embracing the trend of internal branding. Another trend that I see happening is that colleges and universities are coming to grips with the fact that their brand is their name and what that name stands for. I think a combination of economic factors and brand-savvy prospective students are helping drive this understanding. Consequently, institutions and their internal stakeholders are discovering or re-discovering their mission and core values.

Every organization and every person on the planet is currently going through a process of introspection to determine what is important, to determine their place in the new economy and to create a sustainable approach to brand building. I am not talking about a green design plan or social responsibility. Although those are necessary too, I am talking about survival. A window has opened for higher education as an industry and for all colleges and universities to think about their history and tradition, to honor that history and tradition and place them in a modern context. Economic and technology forces are creating huge opportunities for colleges and universities around the globe to do so. Our role as brand professionals is to leverage those factors and help get the right stakeholders to the right institutions.


Rahul- Several higher education institutions in India aspire to be world-class. However, there is limited acceptance of the fact that educational brand building is a systematic approach that requires time, resources and expertise. What are your top two recommendations for Indian higher education institutions for effective brand building?
Rex- First and foremost is to think of brand as a noun first and a verb second. This provides the context for higher education institutions to understand their brand is their name, what that name stands for and the associations that people have when they hear or see that name. The next step is to determine how closely aligned stakeholder opinions are with the name, and how closely aligned those are with the strategic plan of the institution. In my work I help institutions develop a strategy to align their internal culture with their external reputation. That systemic process is branding. That systemic process is also sustainable and leads to world-class status. Rankings, visual identities and other solutions are simply aspects or outcomes of brand building.

There are increasing demands and expectations for institutions of higher learning to deliver on their brand promise, and to do so at warp speed. I have no argument with the first part of that statement. Every organization in every industry must understand who they are, what they stand for and to deliver on what they say they are going to do for their brand champions. However, when colleges and universities take a quick-fix approach to brand building, they run into problems. They satisfy the skeptics, water down their core values, under value their stakeholders and dilute their brand. Building a sustainable brand is a forever process. When higher education institutions establish that way of thinking about brand building they have the ability to recruit and retain champions for their brand. All colleges and universities can become world-class for a lifetime in the minds and hearts of brand champions.