Dear Editor:
Meg Fowler’s thorough story on the new AU branding effort engendered lots of conversation but prompted some comments hosted on your site that were factually incorrect. We’d like to address those directly.
The branding effort is the culmination of two years of methodical and strategic work, encompassing research, strategy, creative development, testing and execution. It has been an inclusive and collaborative process. A campus-wide University Marketing Advisory Council representing all the university’s constituencies — including, but not limited to students — guided the process throughout. We checked in with leaders of the various constituencies — including the current and former student government presidents — at every point during their respective tenures when there was a key deliverable or milestone.
This has been a very cost-efficient effort. We paid a market research firm in 2009 to help us benchmark current awareness and perceptions among 12 key audiences, as well as to test possible positioning messages, through thousands of surveys and hundreds of interviews at the start of this project. Ever since, this has been an AU-powered effort from bottom to top.
AU’s professional designers, writers, editors, photographer, videographer, and digital media experts produced the creative work and rounded it out with talented graduate and undergraduate student brand teams. We added in an alumnus who is an award-winning editorial cartoonist (and former Eagle staffer). As a result, this effort is cost-efficient, organic, and created from within by students, faculty, staff, and alums who gave hours of their time, contributed powerful ideas, and enhanced the outcomes. If you’d like to meet some of those involved, check out the video, “Get to Know Wonk” at: http://w.american.edu/wonk/
We are working with faculty in the Kogod School of Business and the School of Communication to use the campaign and branding process as a case study, from which students can learn. We are meeting with students faculty, staff and alumni to continue integrating the brand into their work and activities, so that the message of what makes AU so special — active engaged citizens, learning from leaders, Washington as a powerful lab for learning — comes through loud and clear.
WONK is a bold concept, but it is simply a hook to grab attention and convey those messages. It might be unknown to some at first, but it is a real word that originated as know, spelled backwards. It’s a distinctly Washington word. And based on the hundreds of times that is used in the public media each week, its current use (as opposed to some dated definitions) references smart, engaged, people of all sorts who are passionate about developing their expertise on an issue or idea, and who seek to create meaningful change. Everyone from British Prime Minister David Cameron to Diggnation podcaster (and AU alum) Alex Albrecht is called a wonk in the news. It’s cool to be smart and to know your passion backwards and forwards. Just ask Barack Obama, who received a wonk T-shirt (and liked it) when he visited AU this summer.
Can one day measure the likely success of a branding effort? No, but it gives us some early indications. In the first 24 hours, here are a few compelling stats:
• At Celebrate AU, we handed out 3,500 wonk T-shirts in 4 hours. That's 875 per hour and about 15 shirts per minute.
• 1,263 visitors, 1,402 visits and 4,608 page views to the new American Wonk website, www.american.edu/wonk/
• "Getting to Know Wonk" video was downloaded 1,825 times and played more than 500 times.
• Lit up social media among AU and higher education groups on Twitter and Facebook with conversations about wonk and what it means.
As launches go, this was an impressive first day. We hope the campus community heeds Eagle Editor Charlie Szold’s advice to “Keep an open mind.” Learn about and contribute to the development of this effort and help us raise awareness, pride and recognition for this wonderful institution.
Sincerely, Teresa M. Flannery Executive Director, University Communications and Marketing
