SimpsonScarborough discussed with Gwen Freed, Vice President for Marketing and Communications at Gustavus Adolphus College the brand identity study we recently conducted with them.

Q. Why did Gustavus Adolphus decide to conduct a brand identity study?

A. We decided to conduct the brand identity study with SimpsonScarborough primarily  to drive business results. We wanted to be more effective and efficient in reaching our target audience with messages that resonate with them.

Q. What are the unique challenges of your competitive  marketplace?

A. Gustavus Adolphus College is located in Saint Peter, Minnesota. There are a lot of private college in Minnesota, maybe more than the average state. That definitely provides us with a unique challenge because it's harder to differentiate ourselves in the regions. Also, we are reaching a peak in the number of high school graduates, so competition among the local schools will intensify in the future.

Q. One of the audiences you included in your study was "peers in higher education," why did you decide to study this audience?

A. We made the decision to include our higher education peers in order to get a sense of Gustavus' reputation. Finding this out was important to us for many reasons, one being that it influences the US News and World Report rankings, but more importantly to understand how we're viewed from people "in the know" who understand the industry. Our higher education peers know our institution well enough to give educated observations, and they have a level of sophistication that we're not going to get from our other audiences.

Q. How do you plan to use and apply the findings?

A. We're going to apply the findings through pervasive use through all of our marketing and communications. We're going to focus primarily on prospective students and donors,  but the findings  will be key in internal communications as well.

Q. You are new to higher education. How do you feel working for a college is different than working in the corporate world?

A.  I was actually thinking about that this morning. Working for a college is a much warmer environment. There's a sense of community here and big-time intellectual stimulation. Another difference is that working at a college gives me a sense of mission and  a sense of public vocation beyond making a profit. We have a different bottom line here than in the corporate world. Here       our bottom line is measured in outcomes and impact in society for the common good.