Michaela Lumpert, Campus Carrier News Editor
Weeks after Berry announced its new logo and the college’s rebranding, the marketing department moved forward with plans to release the rest of the rebranding in phases, despite some negative reaction.
After the reactions from the first new Facebook profile picture, the college decided to change the Berry College’s Facebook profile picture to one that incorporated the traditional Berry navy blue. Although there was some negative feedback still, other Facebook commenters were content with the change.
“I like it, it stands out and looks very prestigious on social media,” one commenter said.
The process of implementing the new logo and rebranding started a little over a year ago. In spring of 2017, current freshman and seniors were called in for focus groups, asking questions on their experiences and perspectives of the college. Groups of alumni were also used in focus groups asking similar questions. Nancy Rewis vice president of marketing and communications, described why certain alumni were called in for focus groups.
“We purposely chose the younger alumni groups, the millennials, because they are the largest alumni group that currently exists,” Rewis said.
After the surveys went out during February 2018 for prospective students, parents, the current student body and alumni. From the research, Rewis explained that the creative process could finally start with the company North Charles Street Design, based in Baltimore.
“They were a really good cultural fit for us and we thought that they would be a great partner,” Rewis said. “They seemed to get us immediately, and they truly embraced Martha, and what she built and what her mission was.”
As of right now, only one little piece of our rebranding process has been released. With more to come, President Steve Briggs explains that this has been a long, thought-out process.
“The logo is just one piece of a much larger marketing campaign and initiative that we have been working on for a couple of years,” Briggs said.
The rebranding will be released in different stages, the first being the Admissions Office. The focus of this release will be on the variety of marketing pieces that the Admissions Office uses and sends to prospective students.
The second stage focuses more on finishing the website and releasing more Admission Office pieces, including mailings and anything that is used throughout the admissions process.
Shannon Biggers, director of creative service, has been working closely with Rewis and the marketing team in the rebranding process. One of her projects has been the brand hub, which will be released during the second stage.
“[The brand hub] will basically be the brand guidelines, the standards that define not only the messaging but also give us the artifacts and tools for implementing the logo,” Biggers said.
Once the brand hub is released, Rewis explained that the process of implementing the logo will be easier.
“[The brand hub] will help us with consistency across the board for an overall look and feel for the college,” Rewis said.
While it may be almost a full year before the entirety of the rebranding is released, President Briggs believed that the campaign will make more sense as it is released.
“I don’t think most people really know what the campaign is because we haven’t launched it yet,” Briggs said.
One of the bigger issues that the college was facing in the midst of the beginning of the rebranding was the confusion that students had. The SGA meeting on Jan. 15 was one of the ways the college tried to clear some confusion. Dean of Students Lindsey Taylor was excited about the meeting, and she hoped that she could receive feedback from the students.
The rebranding process is expected to take at least a full year in order to fully release and integrate the new brand and logo among the college.
“Right now we are listening, and we are continuing to move the larger branding campaign out,” Taylor said.