Brand Promise
Christine M. LaPaille
Vice President for University Relations
August 18, 2011
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Mission Statement
George Mason University is innovative and entrepreneurial in
spirit and utilizes its multi-campus organization and location
near our nation’s capital to attract outstanding faculty, staff
and students. George Mason will:
• Educate the new generation of leaders for the 21st century—
men and women capable of shaping a global community with
vision, justice, and clarity.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Mission Statement (cont.)
• Encourage freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry in a
tolerant, respectful academic setting that values diversity.
• Provide innovative and interdisciplinary undergraduate,
graduate, and professional courses of study that enable
students to exercise analytical and imaginative thinking
and make well-founded ethical decisions.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Mission Statement (cont.)
• Nurture and support a highly qualified and entrepreneurial
faculty that is excellent at teaching, active in pure and applied
research, capable of providing a broad range of intellectual
and cultural insights, and is responsive to the needs of
students and their communities.
• Maintain an international reputation for superior education
and public service that affirms its role as the intellectual and
cultural nexus among Northern Virginia, the nation, and the
world.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Process to Date
2009
• Launched internal brand/image survey
research project
• Presented results at August planning
conference; led exercise to identify Mason’s
brand attributes.
2010
• Combined internal survey findings with
external research results from
Development campaign research.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Process to Date
2010-2011
• Drafted brand architecture
• Launched new tagline: ads, pubs, media, etc.
• Engaged consultant Duane Knapp to present
at August planning conference.
• Conducted informal focus groups with
campus leadership as follow-up to planning
conference.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• I see Mason as the institution of opportunity . . .very often the
person who made them or who is selected to pursue them is not
the person that you would necessarily think.
• We try to make a large institution feel very personal and give a
student more of a small school experience. I think we do that
better than a lot of large universities.
• Even though we are so big, we can personalize your stay here.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• When we have a set of two or three things that we want to
deliver on, regardless of who the stakeholder is or the
recipient is, you’ll start to manage yourselves and your staffs
in a way that you think, “I’ve got to fix this because this is
not delivering the Mason promise. “
• As we develop programs, I am pushing people to talk to the
real world on what they need, and not just what you think the
student needs. We develop the skill sets which the employer
needs, and that takes a lot of effort.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• . . . freedom to pursue things without too much bureaucratic
barriers, is another one which people really like, and we do that.
• You know what I love about working here is that you grow here
not only professionally, but as an individual here because you
are encouraged to try something differently. I can think about
my work differently.
• We have our heads in the clouds, but our feet on the ground.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• I see all of us really trying to increase the quality and the
excellence in our programs. Every single decision that every
single one of us makes, I think, has that end goal in mind.
And, you know, if you want that, and we talk to our students
about that, come to Mason.
• These are programs that are built on aspirations of excellence
and we are doing everything possible to move us as quickly as
possible at this.
• One of my board members says we are running, we are not
walking to those goals.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• We deliver our brand of excellence on the education side; but
we haven’t caught up to it on the operations side. There is grit
in the wheels.
• We haven’t made that leap yet where people who can afford
to go anywhere are thinking of Mason as one of the options.
And I think that we will really turn the corner when people
start naming Brown, NY, and Mason as their top three
choices.
• What I tell employers is that if he’s got a Mason graduate, you
have something special.
.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Statements from Brand Focus Groups
• So what I want to see is companies that move here because of the
expertise at Mason, not move here because we are going to help them
have their workforce.
• We have a whole different alignment of infrastructure that will allow
the best in the world to do their work.
• We say to students, OK, when you come to Mason this is what you
will engage in. And our goal is for you to be very confident about
what happens after you graduate. And so it’s really redefining what
constitutes excellence in education
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Three fundamental questions:
1. What is the Mason BRAND experience?
2. What distinguishes Mason from other
universities?
3. How does Mason become highly valued?
Where Innovation Is Tradition
What is the Mason BRAND Experience?
Mason’s culture of innovation
pervades the campus and
inspires students, faculty and staff
to be the best they can be every day.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
What distinguishes Mason from other
universities?
Mason’s students are prepared for
real world success, with practical experience
and the capacity to capitalize on the
perspective they gain from our diverse campus
and our location in the DC metro region.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
How does Mason become highly valued?
Students, faculty and staff work together
to achieve excellence in ways that are beyond
imagination.
This inspiring culture challenges us
to deliver an exceptional experience
every day.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Key Ideas
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . innovative thought
leadership . . . . . . . .exceptional educational
experiences.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .inspired . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .unique perspectives . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . success.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Promise Context
Innovative: We are the university that owns
“Innovation” as a brand attribute.
Thought Leadership: We want to educate the
next thought leaders; we want our faculty to
be thought leaders; we want respect from the
thought leaders in the region, we want donors
to support a thought leader institution.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Promise Context
Exceptional Educational Experiences:
Whether attending a class, a performance, a
game or just visiting campus, we want to
deliver an exceptional Mason experience to
the stakeholder at every level.
Inspired: We want people to be inspired to
think differently. We want to hold ourselves
accountable for inspiring others. We want to
be a spirit-filled institution.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Promise Context
Perspective: Our diverse campus body, our
global and international activities, provide our
students the opportunity to develop fresh
perspectives.
Mason can transform lives by giving students a
new perspective on what they can achieve.
Our hard working students provide employers
with a positive perspective on hiring our
graduates.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Promise Context
Success: This is another solid Mason brand
attribute with unique meaning on our campus.
We are known for graduating successful
students. We have become a very successful
award-winning institution in a relatively short
timeframe. We have achieved great success in
building a beautiful campus. We have won
awards for achieving successful work/life
balance.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Every person on Mason’s campus
should experience at least
one part of our promise
every day.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Mason’s Brand Promise
We are dedicated to innovative thought
leadership and exceptional educational
experiences.
Our students, faculty and staff are inspired to
work together to develop unique perspectives
that will enhance their success.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Next Steps
• Feedback to clapaill@mason.gmu.edu
• Tool Kit
• “Operationalize” the Brand Promise
throughout the organization.
Where Innovation Is Tradition
Thank You!
Where Innovation Is Tradition