On today's episode, we sit down with Frank Camp, Executive Director of Brand Strategy at the University of Arizona, to discuss the importance of separating brand strategy from creative execution, building an inclusive brand process, closing the feedback loop with stakeholders, the University of Arizona's four brand pillars and how an out-of-the-box activation called the Galaxy Slam brought it all to life!
When the University of Arizona started working toward new creative, it decided to separate brand strategy from the creative execution entirely. Frank shares how the team used a distinct RFP process and timeline to ensure the foundational brand work was done before anyone touched a design file.
The result produced four clear brand pillars for the university that serve as the platform for all their creative work: An Enduring Legacy; Shaped by the Sonoran Desert; Excellence Without Pretense; and Bear Down, Build Up.
In this episode, Frank explains how more than 1,000 people were part of the brand strategy process and why defining roles was key to the project. Closing the feedback loop with stakeholders is what Frank credits as one of the biggest contributors to ensuring the brand strategy landed smoothly.
Then there's the Galaxy Slam, a collaboration between the University of Arizona’s brand team, athletics department, basketball head coach Tommy Lloyd and the university's world-renowned space sciences researchers. The Galaxy Slam showed what applied brand strategy can look like with scientists dunking basketballs, custom Nike jerseys, rookie-style trading cards for astronomers, and a campus-wide activation rooted in the pillar of excellence without pretense. And it worked.
"It really did just perfectly dovetail with the brand strategy. In particular, that idea of excellence without pretense," Frank expounds, adding that there was a lot of pride on both the academic/brand team and in the athletics department.
Frank’s perspective is a reminder that great brand work for a university or college doesn’t start with what looks good. It starts with what’s true.
Inclusivity in the brand strategy process matters, but defining each group's role in that process is just as important as gathering their feedback.
Going deeper, not broader, is the key to a brand strategy that actually holds. Trying to be everything to everyone causes the process to break down fast.
Bold brand activations like the Galaxy Slam don't happen overnight. They're built on failed attempts, willing collaborators and a clear strategic foundation to build from.
The best brand work is authentic because it's true. When students, faculty and deans don't take exception to the spirit of what you've said, you've done it right.
Hearing from a brand strategist who has navigated one of the most inclusive brand processes in higher ed can help put things into perspective. Check out the episode for more