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Take a stroll through ����Թ�’s campus and your eye will surely catch the bright, new orange and black banners hanging on street poles, proclaiming We Are the Opportunity Makers. The banners feature a series of students experiencing life at The Berg to the fullest.

The banners are one visible example of the work the university has undertaken over the past 18+ months with Mindpower, an Atlanta-based strategic branding company.

Our partnership with Mindpower has produced a comprehensive Branding Strategy & Positioning initiative around five components that frame who we are as a university, what we deliver to our students, and how we create awareness and buy-in:

• Brand Values – principles that guide us
  Personal Integrity, Hard Work, Opportunity, Empowerment, Wisdom, Purpose
• Brand Personality – who we are as a learning community
  Industrious, Feisty, Wise, Earnest, Determined, Gritty, Devoted, Trustworthy, Enteprirsing, Down-to-Earth, Tenacious
• Brand Promise – what we promise to deliver
  We Are the Opportunity Makers
• Brand Positioning – our position in the marketplace
  We Believe in People
• Brand Expression – our creative concept for all marketing & communications
  Opportunity Makers

We now have a volume of creative deliverables around Opportunity Makers messaging. The overarching goal of this brand “refresh” is to create a culture in which all of our constituencies – students, faculty and staff, alumni and guests, and especially, prospective students – recognize themselves and gain or reaffirm a sense of belonging to something bigger.

With this brand re-positioning, we are collectively telling the ����Թ� story to audiences near and far in consistent ways, leading us toward achieving a series of key strategic goals:

·         expand awareness and understanding of ����Թ�
·         position HU among its competitors
·         increase awareness and enrollment in the Midwest
·         strengthen the prospective student pipeline
·         generate internal pride and energy
·         support major fundraising initiatives
·         elevate the academic reputation,
·         demonstrate ����Թ�’s impact
·         develop an overarching, consistent and powerful brand narrative.

We didn’t change our brand – nothing that dramatic. In essence, what this really means is that we have new tools to help all of us spread the message to the outside world that a ����Թ� education is worth the investment. Our ultimate goal is to help ����Թ� grow enrollment and retention.

Throughout the summer and fall, ����Թ� rolled out elements of the Opportunity Makers messaging in a variety of ways. New narrative and imagery are showing up on platforms across the spectrum from our website to social media and print to recruiting materials.

Additionally, Opportunity Makers is incorporated into the university’s observance of its 175th anniversary – in the 175th logo and other collateral to promote celebratory events through next November. Soon, you’ll find Opportunity Makers apparel and merchandise in the Bookstore.

You will continue to see, hear and sense the Opportunity Makers brand as we look to capture the energy and spirit of our community and share it with the world.

All members of the ����Թ� community are brand ambassadors. As one unified team, we demonstrate the tenacity, resiliency, bold and enterprising spirit that continues to set HU apart by creating opportunities for our Student Princes every day.

We encourage you to share your personal story with us so we can let the world know that …

… We are – and always will be – Opportunity Makers.