To the University community,
We are excited to announce a new strategic brand analysis at Slippery Rock University!
Working with Carnegie Higher Education, we are conducting an important market research and consensus-building project to clarify and define “who we are” as we plan to grow enrollment, awareness and the reputation of SRU. Carnegie’s method is entirely built around the input of the people who know Slippery Rock University the best—and that means you!
A series of live interactive workshops will be held in the Campus Success Center:
- Monday, March 24 – Personality Workshops
- Tuesday, March 25 – Messaging Workshops
Sign up today and pick the times that work best for you!
Your voice is absolutely essential to the success of this important work.
We encourage you to select one workshop each day for the Personality and Messaging Workshops because the work intersects, but if you can only attend one day that is fine! Also, please encourage your colleagues and students to attend as well. And, yes, there will be ample food and beverages available.
The central question across all of the workshops: Who is Slippery Rock University at its best? During these workshops you will learn why the “who” is a very important variable to understand.
The two distinct and integrated phases of workshops will help us crystalize our “who”:
The Personality workshops define the authentic human personality of Slippery Rock University both today and tomorrow.
The Messaging Workshops cascade these insights into messaging and storyline outcomes. The work is fun, and the results will powerfully unify our marketing communications—and thus the reputation—of our University for years to come.
Carnegie is an industry leader in reputation research and strategy, specializing in crowd-sourced and consensus-driven processes to achieve authentic results. This project will take several months to complete and ultimately culminate in a new reputation and brand elevation strategy supported by a robust communication platform.
You are encouraged to attend both workshops, one each day at your convenience. They promise to be fun, engaging, and informative. Come prepared to share as Carnegie helps us think about Slippery Rock University in a whole new way.
Thank you in advance for your participation and active involvement in guiding the future of SRU!
Sincerely,
Ken Bach,
Senior Director of University Marketing and Communication
and
Michael May,
Vice President of Enrollment Management
You read this far! Thanks! These workshops must really be of interest, so here’s some insider information:
The Personality Workshops define the authentic human personality of Slippery Rock University both today and tomorrow. Exercises include:
TRAITS—Human personality traits and characteristics of Slippery Rock University.
FAULTS—Weaknesses, whether actual or perceived, of Slippery Rock University.
ARCHETYPE—Investigating the persona of Slippery Rock University using the psychological theory of universal character types.
CAUSE—Examining “why” Slippery Rock University exists, and its deepest motivation.
The Messaging Workshops cascade these insights into messaging and storyline outcomes. The result is a powerful, long-term communication tool for the whole institution.
GENOME—Trait dominance testing between important identified characteristics of Slippery Rock University.
DIMENSIONS—Authentic definition of core concepts at Slippery Rock University and why they’re important.
PREAMBLE—An exploration of the big ideas and stories that defines Slippery Rock University above all else.
Format and Delivery
Workshops are two hours long and delivered with consensus-building at the core. Focused on collaborative dialogue, these workshops are highly interactive and involve simple technology like posters, pens, stickers, Post-Its, etc. You will work in pairs or small groups much of the time to complete specific exercises. Continual interaction and open discussion are central to the format. You can expect to exert a fair amount of mental energy, and leave both inspired and enthusiastic and perhaps a little tired, knowing that your voice matters!
