Columbia Debuts New Branding Campaign

‘PART OF OUR DNA’

“These attributes have always been a part of our DNA—we simply have never communicated them in one story so clearly, completely, and efficiently,” said Dean Hubbard in a statement.  “Our powerful combination of leading-edge academics and real-time exposure to business give our students the knowledge, experience, and connections to be impactful in any endeavor they pursue.”

The school said the new campaign is the result of a “rigorous and intensive process” that sought feedback from hundreds of stakeholders both inside and outside of the school. Columbia said its partner in the process was the BurnsGroup in New York, whose other clients include ChapStick, Post cereals, and Ricola. “Through qualitative and quantitative measurement tools, the school set out to identify the key attributes and characteristics that were most commonly cited by stakeholders,” according to the school. In an interview with Poets&Quants, Henries said “we looked at how we were communicating the brand and we confirmed that Columbia is seen as being among the best schools in the world. There were a number of positive things about the school that we needed to do a better job of telling. We have a powerful story and this initiative is about telling that story.”

‘THERE IS A LOT OF BUZZ HERE AT URIS HALL TODAY’

Today’s launch, she added, has created quite a bit of excitement on campus. “People have been very excited and very engaged,” says Henries. “There is a lot of buzz here at Uris Hall today. There is a sense that we have a great story so let’s tell it as effectively as we can. A fundamental premise of marketing and communicating is you need to know what you stand for and what sets you apart. This initiative is designed to help us clearly state that and effectively communicate it.”

In its news release on the branding initiative, the school quoted an MBA student who will graduate next year.  “For a lot of schools, having a big speaker on campus is a big event,” Sarah Shen, the second-year MBA student, was quoted as saying.  “For us, this happens practically every day. Over the past week alone students have met with the CEOs of Godiva, Saks Fifth Avenue, and J.Crew, and tomorrow morning the CEO of Morgan Stanley will be on campus to share his views on the role and responsibilities of financial institutions in the new economy. This regular access to business titans does not happen everywhere, and it is one of the amazing benefits Columbia Business School affords us as students.”