What happened to Kent State’s $2.3 million “Undeniably Kent State”?

 

 

It’s been three years since Kent State signed a three year $2.3 million contract with Philadelphia-based branding agency 160over90, and it seems the project has stalled.

The contract, set to expire Sept. 2018, began in 2015, aimed to rebrand the university and to tell the school’s story– which Kent State President Beverly Warren said people described Kent State as a “best kept-secret” at the time after conducting her Listening Tour in 2015, which was done as an attempt to understand Kent State’s history when she first became president.

“The fact that we have so many excellent programs here…we know many good things: Fashion does a great job of saying how great they are, and they are; aeronautics does the same thing and architecture,” Warren said. “But if we said what’s Kent State, I don’t think we tell that story well,” implying more needed to be done to make the university stand out from its competitors.

The branding agency had success with previous contracts, including American Eagle Outfitters and Under Armour, but also with campuses nationwide. Its contracts include UCLA, Duke University, Temple University and Cornell University.

160over90 proudly boasts its contracts on its website, which includes multimedia for each campaign it’s created, and Kent State is not included.

Instead, the page titled “Kent State Anthem” published Feb. 2016 as a link on the agency’s Facebook page is disabled, adding further speculation the university’s contract with the agency is no longer in existence.

At the time, searching for an agency externally rather than using Kent State’s resources was a conscious decision Warren said.

“For us to do it internally, sometimes you are blinded by some of the features of who you are and who you could be,” she said.

The idea was to showcase the history of Kent State and to show a sense of community.

During the Board of Trustees meeting March 2015, 160over90’s chief executive officer and principal John Campanella said “You have the stories. It’s just a matter of putting the right platform to get the stories out,” referring to the strategy the company would take to implement Warren’s vision.

The agency conducted focus groups on each of the eight campuses and launched “Undeniably Kent State” in Feb. 2016 dropping “Excellence in Action,” which had been the university’s mantra for years.

The university unveiled “Undeniably Kent State” in the two-minute marketing video, where Kent State was described as “Here our people welcome you with open arms but push you out with an open mind,” the narrator said.

After the video launch, the agency went on to revamp the university’s website and give it a complete overhaul, including changes made to www.kent.edu, as well as a redesign for regional campuses, individual colleges, academic departments and the university administration.

“We are working on a strategy that will allow webmasters to work on the new website and the current website separately, so that they can manage and maintain their Web presence appropriately,” Sameer Jaleel said, former director of systems development for Kent State’s division of information services, now director of platform and integration solutions.

Campanella nor anyone at 160over90 could not be reached to comment. However, Kristen Anderson, director of external media relations for Kent State, said there is no current contract with 160over90, and all of the current rebranding work is being done within the university’s department of communications and marketing.

In 2015, in collaboration with the Strategic Visioning Advisory Committee (SVAC), the agency’s multi-million dollar rebranding effort was in full swing. However, Sept. 2017 Kent State swapped the phrase “Undeniably Kent State” for “On with Purpose.” Though, it is unclear if 160over90 had control over the new transition.

The SVAC, which was the president’s self-appointed committee consisting of a diverse group of faculty, staff, students and administrators, was led by co-chairs Charlene Reed and Melody Tankersley.

When asked about the contract set to expire this month, Tankersley said, “my work was really in the beginning of the branding, and I haven’t been a part of any decision-making since then.”

The new phrase was meant to focus on individuals and their purpose, a contrast from 160over90’s vision, which had community in mind. “On with Purpose” has only Kent students, alumni and potential students in mind.

When presenting the new campaign in 2017, Karen Clarke,  senior vice president for strategic communications and external affairs, said “What ‘Undeniably Kent State’ means is that we create an environment here at Kent State University that isn’t just focused on helping you get your degree,” she said. “We also are very committed to helping you find your passion, find your purpose.”

Since then, Clarke confirmed that all of the rebranding work is being completed within university grounds, confirming the university no longer is using 160over90’s branding plan.

“Kent State does not currently have a branding contract – we are doing all the creative work in-house,” she said.

“On With Purpose’s” mission is to focus students on the service they can provide to society and the university’s ability to adapt as society changes, said Clarke. Which isn’t far from the initial rebranding mission.

The question remains, what happened to the three year $2.3 million contract?

Contact Ashley Torres at atorres3kent.edu and Will Kovach at wkovach1@kent.edu.