Re-branding your schools? Watch Out! – SCN Encourager 3/12/2014

Please be careful! 

Simply researching the possibility of re-branding can be hazardous to your ego.

You’ll see phrases along the way that are hard to not take personally, even if they are meant to be applied to the public perceptions of your school district.

No longer cutting edge… very predictable… easily overlooked… appearance seems dated… lack of energy… not known for any unique quality…

See what I mean?

It helps to be an awfully thick-skinned person whenever you take on a re-branding campaign.

All of the “public perceptions” on that re-branding checklist often hit too close to home.

One of the tricks I use to avoid getting tagged personally with any negative perceptions during the sweeping re-branding process is to think up my “individual excuses” early on in the game.

These excuses come in handy whenever demeaning second-hand public perceptions bubble up and start flowing my way.

To illustrate, compare several of the afore-featured public perceptions to my (excuses).
• no longer cutting edge (So what? I was never cutting edge.)
• very predictable (Ah, c’mon. What Lions fan isn’t?)
• appearance seems dated (You just wait. The ’70’s look will be back!)

Get it? It’s all about being prepared and never getting caught without a speedy-kwik excuse ready to fling.

This is the secret sauce in every successful re-branding strategy.

I just threw my own self-preservation tactic as a bonus.

Does the logo below look familiar?

 

 

 

 

Due to increased competition and “kinda looking the same” for quite awhile, Olive Garden is now embarking on an extensive re-branding effort.

It’ll include a new logo, cool words on an action plan, a menu re-do, renovations, and new fixtures.

The works!

Hopefully, the brains behind the Olive Garden campaign are contained in some thick-skinned bodies.

Re-branding is not for the faint of heart.

At least one marketing expert has written how Olive Garden is doing it mostly all wrong.

This review lays it out clearly and offers a few pointers about branding for good measure.

You might enjoy checking it out.

If you do, you’ll notice one re-branding element that even the expert reviewer missed.

Yep, Olive Garden totally skipped the essential “excuse preparation” phase.

It’s unfortunate.

They should’ve called me.

Tom Page, SCN