Brand Audit and Position Services

The vendor required to provide branding and strategic communications consultants to define and strengthen state brand position through research, analysis and strategic recommendations to strengthen institutional identity, enhance stakeholder engagement, and support long-term organizational goals.
- Include an assessment report, recommendations for brand positioning, visual identity guidance, messaging architecture, and an implementation roadmap.
- Requirement:
1. Comprehensive brand audit
•    Evaluate current brand perception and messaging.
•    Conduct a visual identity audit as a decision-making tool.
•    Conduct a touchpoint and channel analysis to assess consistency and effectiveness.
2. Stakeholder insights report
•    Gather input from students, alumni, employers, and community partners. (Employee input has already been gathered and will be provided.
•    Identify differences on how m state is perceived by each of the four campus communities.
•    Identify gaps between internal stakeholder perception and external reality of brand awareness and messaging.
3. Prospective student brand perception and awareness
•    Research prospective student's awareness and perception of m state.
•    Identify factors influencing enrollment decisions.
4. Market positioning analysis
•    current and potential and upcoming competitors, including employers with in-house training and education and training centers.
•    Benchmark m state's positioning against peer institutions, including how our prospects differ from our competitors and what themes dominate peer institution messaging.
•    Identify specific communities and emerging market opportunities.
•    Highlight unique differentiators and competitive advantages. 
•    Not only what makes m state unique, but why those differentiators matter to prospective students, employers and the region.
5. Brand positioning framework
•    Define core brand promise and messaging pillars, including a recommendation on brand positioning statement and territory for m state, not a tagline but an “ownable” space.
•    Recommendation on leveraging the different personalities of each campus to best market to mass and local audiences. 
•    In what scenarios would it be best to market m state as a singular united multi-campus college.
•    Establish tone, voice, and positioning guidelines.
6. Implementation roadmap
•    Outline phased rollout plan.
•    Include timelines, resource needs, structure, prioritization framework, and success metrics.
7. Marketing and communications deliverables
•    Updated brand guidelines.
•    Messaging toolkit for internal and external use.
•    Strategic and creative recommendations for digital and traditional media strategies.

Budget: $25,000 - $75,000