What do they think of us?
Rutgers University Libraries
Brand Assessment Study
VALE Assessment Fair 2014
Rose Barbalace
Christine Wolff
pinkdawn@rulmail.rutgers.edu christine.wolff@rutgers.edu
Rutgers University Libraries
Why Assess Brand?
Brand identity:
The space you’ve captured in the minds of customers; it’s
all the things that come to mind, all of the expectations they
have when they hear the words Rutgers University
Libraries
2
Rutgers University Libraries
Need for Re-Assessment
• New technology
• Change in user population
• Is our brand still valid after since the last brand
assessment 5 years ago?
• Will new brand themes emerge?
3
Rutgers University Libraries
Gathering New Data
Sample of 437 Counting Opinions User Satisfaction Survey
comments were extracted from FY 2013 responses
Comments were coded for the following aspects:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Higher education focused
Enriching knowledge
Essential service
Friendly service
Technology (new category)
Library as quiet place (new category)
Interlibrary loan (new category)
Collections (new category)
4
Rutgers University Libraries
Gathering New Data
Existing brand identity still held relevancy in “friendly service”
and “enriching knowledge”
Feedback on “technology” and “collections” categories showed a
strong need to include these aspects in a new brand identity
5
Rutgers University Libraries
Methodology
• Survey design
• IRB approval process
• Survey distribution
– General distribution
• Facebook
• Twitter
– Student distribution
• Asked Deans and Program Directors to distribute to their students
– Faculty distribution
• Asked Deans and Program Directors to distribute to their faculty
• Asked library faculty to reach out to their respective faculty liaisons
6
Rutgers University Libraries
Methodology
Participating schools*
Student distribution
Faculty distribution
•
•
•
•
•
New Brunswick
•
School of Arts and Sciences
•
Graduate School-New Brunswick
•
School of Engineering
•
Business School-Newark and New Brunswick
•
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
•
School of Pharmacy
•
School of Social Work
•
School of Planning and Public Policy
•
School of Communication and Information
•
School of Management and Labor Relations
•
School of Health Related Professions
•
School of Dental Medicine
•
Graduate School of Education
•
School of Public Health
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
•
School of Nursing
•
School of Pharmacy
•
New Jersey Medical School
•
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
•
School of Dental Medicine
•
School of Health Related Professions
•
School of Public Health
Camden
•
Camden College of Arts and Sciences
•
Graduate School-Camden
•
School of Nursing-Camden
•
School of Social Work
Newark
•
Newark College of Arts and Sciences
•
Graduate School-Newark
•
School of Criminal Justice
•
Business School-Newark and New Brunswick
•
•
•
New Brunswick
• Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
• Mason Gross School of the Arts
• Business School-Newark and New Brunswick
• School of Communication and Information
• School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
• Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
• School of Nursing
• Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Newark
• Newark College of Arts and Sciences
• University College-Newark
• Business School-Newark and New Brunswick
Camden
• Camden College of Arts and Sciences
• Graduate School-Camden
• School of Business-Camden
• School of Nursing-Camden
• University College-Camden
*Some schools listed on the New Brunswick campus are also part of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and are listed under both headings.
7
Rutgers University Libraries
Participants
• 1,643 total respondents
– 701 undergraduate students
– 517 graduate students
– 425 faculty
Faculty
26%
Undergraduate
students
43%
Graduate
students
31%
8
Rutgers University Libraries
Participants
Primary library location
450
400
384
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
185
172 166
135
117 111
60
56
53
48
45
18
16
13
10
6
4
3
1
0
0
9
Rutgers University Libraries
Overall Results
What words come to mind when you think of RUL?*
Top 10 adjectives
Bottom 10 adjectives
Useful
Too technical
Accessible
New
Convenient
Innovative
Quiet
Dirty
Easy to use
Inadequate
Organized
Hard to use
Friendly
Complex
Informative
Attractive
Essential
Unattractive
Safe
Social
*Responses were weighted to appropriately represent the composition of the university population.
10
Rutgers University Libraries
Overall Results
Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the
following statements.*
[1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree]
Overall
Statement
RUL are an essential component of my scholarly / academic experience at Rutgers University.
RUL provide the web-based services I need from a library (e.g. website, mobile website, digital
content).
Rutgers University Libraries (RUL) provide the resources I would expect a university library to
provide.
Mean
4.10
4.03
4.03
RUL librarians and/or staff are friendly.
4.00
RUL provide the technology I need within the physical library space (e.g. computers, printers,
Wi-Fi).
3.88
RUL have the scholarly material I need (e.g. books, journals).
3.84
RUL provide me with the space I need to do my work.
3.72
RUL quickly obtain scholarly material I need if they do not currently have it.
3.71
RUL librarians and/or staff have helped me with my research / helped me academically.
3.54
*Responses were weighted to appropriately represent the composition of the university population.
11
Rutgers University Libraries
Findings: Segmentation
• Distinct groups within Rutgers University
– Undergraduate students
– Graduate students
– Faculty
12
Rutgers University Libraries
What words come to mind when you think of
RUL?
Top 10 adjectives
Undergraduate
Graduate
Faculty
Useful
Useful
Useful
Accessible
Accessible
Essential
Convenient
Convenient
Responsive
Quiet
Easy to use
Accessible
Easy to use
Informative
Convenient
Organized
Essential
Friendly
Crowded
Approachable
Approachable
Safe
Quiet
Reliable
Clean
Reliable
Informative
Big
Friendly
Knowledgeable
13
Rutgers University Libraries
Next Steps
• Develop a brand identity and corresponding message
• Share results of the assessment and promote the new
brand identity internally
• Promote the brand externally
 Tell users what they can expect from the Libraries
14