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Building Buzz:
Getting your hard work noticed on campus and in the community
Presented by:
Lizz Kelly
Program Coordinator/AmeriCorps*VISTA
Grand Rapids Community College
ekelly@grcc.edu
616-234-3459
Vocabulary
Branding includes:
 Logos
 Tag lines and trademarks
 Use of particular images
 Use of specific colors
 "Mascot" characters
Style includes:
 Language
 Use of specific colors
 Overall design approach
 Use of consistent templates and forms
 Formatting
Marketing Mix:
- Product: (service) What are you selling?
- Price: How much does it cost?
- Place: (distribution) Where can we get it?
- Promotions: How do people know to get it and get more information?
Why?
Immediate recognition of the company from it’s “look”
Don’t believe me? Let’s try…
Name that Brand!
- Nike
- Google
- Pepsi
- Facebook
- NBC
- U of M
Do:
- Be open, honest and forthright.
- Tell your campus administrators what you’re doing
- Ask for permission
- Ask for help
- Get the community involved
- Keep your promotion relevant
- Plan your event well, one person should be “in charge” and they should delegate everything they can
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Be prepared…things will go wrong- have a Plan B…C…D
Do Not:
- Mislead or lie to people
- Be offensive
- Withhold important information
- Use crazy materials for an un-crazy event
- Wait until the last second!
How to Create a Brand
- Bring the Key Players around the table (e-board, campus advisor, etc.)
- Get a whiteboard, chalkboard, or flipchart
- Nominate someone to keep notes
- Set goals of the session: promote this event, gain 25 new members, gain 15 faculty members’ support
- BRAINSTORM!
- Set limitations: cost, campus rules, organization preferences
- Decide how you want to avoid looking
- Make a list of how other campus organizations are promoting their events
- Give it all time to sink-in. Take a break (food preferred), talk about anything else!
Come back to it with a fresh outlook
- Eliminate what your limitations say you can’t do
- Use other organization successes, eliminate their failures
- Make your action plan!
o Timeline w/ hard deadlines
o Assign a point-person
o Assign jobs to each person (who will do the logo, who will compile the stylebook, who is keeping
the records, etc.)
o Follow-through
What’s happened on your campus?
- Q&A
Promotional Ideas
- Partner with other student organizations or offices
- Hand-out small reminders
- Posters
- Campus-wide e-mails
- Post on calendars
- Mention it at events
- Tell your Campus Communications Dept.
- Write a press release
- Sidewalk chalk/ Snow Paint
- Window Chalk (cars and buildings)- GET PERMISSION
- Get a cheerleader!
Out-of-the box
- Put the information on a whiteboard or chalkboard before classes start
- Dress someone in a costume & give them a sign
- Create a Facebook contest for free admission for submitting pictures
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Place a random, large object in the middle of campus and don’t tell anyone why…then tell them right
before the event
Hand out an object (small and cheap) with the information inside or on it
Put a bookmark in textbooks at the beginning of the year for your organization-related subject
Personal Branding & Styling
- Use the same font to create a heading for your resume, letters, and return address on envelopes
- Use similar text for business cards
- Consistent margins, template-usage
- Keep everything similar in “look”
- If you want to be perceived as professional- keep everything professional: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
etc.
- Always put your best foot forward
Get your resume noticed (without getting too crazy)
- Use paper just slightly larger (buy legal sized paper and cut it down)
- “Brand” your application
- Send it in a priority mail or FedEx package
- Show who you are in your resume
- Show results (numbers) for each line [as much as possible]
- Deliver it in person
Networking
- Always have a business card with you
- You have 20 seconds- go!
- Keep in touch!
- Quality is important
- Come to an event with a game plan
- Send thank-you’s
- Friend Request (make sure you’re updated before you do it)
- Sell your brand!
Resources:
http://delicious.com/GRCCVISTA/MCC_Camp_Resources