EMU begins brand testing and refining its identity

Eastern Michigan University is moving closer to clarifying its image.

Stamats, Inc., a higher education research and consulting firm, has sent e-mails to 20,000 Eastern Michigan University faculty, staff, students, alumni and donors, asking them to participate in a brief and random survey to choose one of five statements that best describes the EMU experience. Stamats created the statements based on quantitative and qualitative image research conducted since 2002. Based on survey results, EMU will collaborate with Stamats to create a brand tagline and launch its first brand campaign in fall 2007.

But branding is much more than a tagline, said Theodore G. Coutilish, associate vice president, Office of Marketing and Communications.

"An effective brand distinguishes who you are as an organization, what you stand for and stirs emotions," he said. "Branding is about people, not organizations. It's about narrowing, not about being everything to everyone. It's about your reason for being. It's about presenting a clear voice in a cluttered marketplace. Effective brands frame conversations about an organization and provide a blueprint of where it is going."

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