I agree. Many of the discussion threads here seem to take a 'them and
us' approach which is exactly why centrist corporate branding
strategies are difficult to apply. There is little reflection here as
to why Universities are pushing branding. If senior managers want to
corporate brand their University then I want to be paid corporate wages.
On Thu, 1 Nov 2001 10:26:23 +0000 Rick Hobson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Given the apparent enthusiasm for "branding" on this list I hesitate
to
> ask this, but why? Aren't the most important factors (in no
particular
> order)
>
> Clarity of information
> Clarity of design
> Integrity of the information tree (no 404's or "This page has
> moved")
> Relevance of information - any web site is only as good as its
> last upgrade.
>
> Providing a web site meets the above criteria (there may be others)
and > is
> identifiable as belonging to an institution (a simple crest perhaps)
> does
> the precise appearance really matter? I must admit that personally I
> find
> "branded" university sites, where everything looks the same, very
boring
> and sometimes rather confusing.
>
>
_______________________________________________________________________
>
> Dr. Rick Hobson Tel: +44-(0)118 931-6375
> <[log in to unmask]> Fax: +44-(0)118 931-6331
> Chemistry Dept.
> University of Reading Blame
> RG6 6AD, UK Somebody
> http://www.chem.rdg.ac.uk Else
>
_______________________________________________________________________
>
> On Thu, 1 Nov 2001, Richard Tammar wrote:
>
> > Hello there!
> >
> > I've been asked by senior management at the University of Sussex to
> ensure
> > that all University web-pages cohere with 'the corporate identity'.
> To this
> > end I've been attempting to compose a policy document delineating a
> > (minimum) level of 'branding' that must appear on every page by a
> certain
> > date (likely to be in 2003).
> >
> > The University's servers hold over 30 000 pages of open-access
> information,
> > and, whilst a proportion of these are managed by the central web
team > or
> > happy-to-cohere information providers, the majority are owned by
> > enthusiastic - and often iconoclastic - individuals across well
over > 100
> > separate academic departments and research projects.
> >
> > My question is this: have any colleagues at UK universities
> implemented
> > visual identity or branding policies across a large, distributed
site > such
> > as this... and if so, how successful have they been? I would
> absolutely love
> > to hear from you!
> >
> > Richard Tammar
> > Website Manager
> > University of Sussex
> >
------------------------------------------
Dr Steven Warburton
IT Manager
School of Law
King's College London
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