News Highlights

Minnesota State Mankato tweaks unofficial name

Differentiation

Minnesota State Mankato is tweaking its unofficial name to bolster its name recognition in the Twin Cities and differentiate it from other institutions.

2006-04-09
By Robb Murray, Free Press staff writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 12/26/2005]

Minnesota State University hopes a tweak in its identity will help bolster its reputation in the Twin Cities, differentiate it from other institutions with similar acronyms, and capitalize on the fact that many people still call it Mankato State University.

Beginning a few months ago, some official correspondence from MSU has referred to the institution as Minnesota State Mankato.

The tweaking is the result of months of market research to determine which direction MSU needed to push its marketing efforts. Their goal was to raise MSU's profile, but they didn't exactly know how best to go about it.

"We wanted the plan to raise our profile to be based on data, not anecdotes," said Jeff Iseminger, MSU's director of integrated marketing.

The marketing team commissioned phone surveys, convened focus groups and analyzed competitors. Among the findings: MSU had a bit of a name-recognition challenge.

"When we surveyed 500 households in the Twin Cities, we found that, of those who knew us, one-third referred to us as Mankato State," Iseminger said. "That is a major name recognition challenge."

Iseminger said the name "MSU" is fine, and everyone around southern Minnesota knows what it means. Go north, however, and that other MSU — Minnesota State University-Moorhead — begins to steal Mankato's thunder.

The Minnesota State Mankato name also pleases donors and alumni who, Iseminger said, feel strongly about the word "Mankato" being in the name.

Beyond name, other evidence of a marketing plan at work are cropping up, including a high-profile series of advertisements in Minnesota Monthly magazine. The first ad, which is already on newsstands, features one of MSU's most famous alums, Taylor Corp. founder and Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor.

The message of the ads, Iseminger said, is "the idea of transforming what you think is possible by coming here."

Other pieces of the branding campaign:

• Better use of the school colors. In all new construction, he said, special attention will be paid in the interior design phase to use purple and gold.
• In materials sent to prospective students, marketers hope to make better use of photos that go beyond the posed images of smiling students. They've been taking many pictures that show actual student life and show the campus as it is.
• Beginning at Riverfront Drive all along Stoltzman Road and up Stadium Drive hill, banners — similar to the ones on Riverfront Drive and Veterans Memorial Bridge — will grace the lamp posts all the way to campus.
• All new cars added to the university fleet will be white instead of the hodgepodge of colors that exists now. Each will be emblazoned with the school's logo.
• All university Web sites, by August, will have to conform to the template established by the marketing team. The template brings uniformity of use to all university pages, which Iseminger says will enhance the usability.

Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives