Outside of Ordinary

Today has been an “Outside of Ordinary” day at Alfred University.

In fact, I would call it an extraordinary day.

Through a campus-wide celebration this afternoon, we rolled out our new brand platform and marketing materials, all aimed at enhancing our student recruitment efforts. Television and radio spots will air, digital and print ads will appear, and billboards like the one below will be positioned, all in targeted markets where we believe we can make the greatest impact on future enrollment.  Our consultants—Creative Communication Associates (CCA)—stress that “Each and every member of the Alfred community is a co-architect of the Alfred brand.” In other words, our brand is built on what you—our students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends—told CCA about our University, what makes it unique and special.

CCA found several themes emerging from their research, which included interviews, focus groups, and an online survey that generated over 1,500 responses:

• Alfred University’s egalitarian roots: a place that, nearly 200 years ago, opened its doors to all who wanted to make a better life for themselves and their families.
• A culture of creativity and making things.
• A shared sense of place that inspires and empowers those who call it home.
• An incredible array of top curricular and co-curricular options for our students.
• The capacity to take bright and curious students, give them a safe place to explore and take creative risks, and transform them into successful and fulfilled graduates who are bettering our world.

These are the ideas that ring truest for our University. They are also the elements that frame our branding campaign.

With CCA’S help we translated the five core themes into the following “brand chapters:”

• There’s Magic in our Valley: Open, friendly, and safe, our community encourages students, faculty, and staff to do more than they thought possible, to stretch themselves. Our valley attracts world-class scholars and speakers, researchers and artists, creative thinkers, and doers who share their light with our students.
• Talent Incubator: We put students’ ingenuity and creativity to work, with plenty of personal attention, mentoring, and guidance. We empower our graduates to do more and be more than they thought possible.
• Top Programs to Mix and Match: Artists taking engineering courses; engineers taking business courses; biology majors with a minor in English or philosophy. Whatever students want to explore or do, through academic programs, sports or clubs, we let them tailor our wide array of offerings to shape their future.
• A Maker Culture: We inculcate our students with a hands-on approach and can-do attitude. Our students know how to define a problem and come up with a solution. They are not afraid to dig in, get dirty, and make something happen.
• Inclusive from the Start: As the first university in the country to educate men and women in the same classrooms and through the same courses of study, we value friendliness, acceptance, authenticity, and the differences among us.

We have chosen a tagline—Outside of Ordinary—that conveys our distinctive culture, our beautiful rural location, and our impactful and immersive learning model.

All of you are our brand ambassadors. What you say, what you do, and, most of all, what you achieve tells people what Alfred University is all about.

So, let’s not hide our light. Let’s light up the world and spread the word about how special Alfred University truly is!

Fiat Lux and Fiat Outside of Ordinary!
Mark