Cecelia Crow has been the Brand Marketing Manager for Virginia Tech since the university’s brand launch in 2006. She oversees the university’s brand image and identity including the university’s Brand Ambassador Certification Program, plans and manages the university’s strategic marketing planning and execution for student recruitment and opinion leader campaigns, and consults with campus communicators on brand compliance and marketing planning. She has more than 20 years of experience in building and maintaining brands, strategic marketing communications, advertising, and public relations for higher education, healthcare, economic development and business-to-business manufactured products.

How long can you carry on the on-campus momentum after a successful brand launch? When the on-campus buzz begins to soften, communicators return their focus to accomplishing their unit goals, often with brand as an afterthought. But the university brand manager is left to keep the flame burning. The overall goal for building and maintaining a brand program is to reinvigorate the brand when it reaches the maintenance stage and keep it top-of-mind as long as possible with reminder programs and fresh ideas. To keep communicators and other relevant employees in tune with the institution’s brand, Virginia Tech’s marketing and strategic communications team developed a comprehensive, two-phase Brand Ambassador Certification Program. Within days of the program launch, there was a waiting list for classes.

So, what IS a brand ambassador? Quite simply, a Virginia Tech brand ambassador “upholds the reputation of the university by ensuring that the Virginia Tech brand is followed, protected, and promoted consistently among all audiences.” With this ambassador program, we set simple objectives to achieve:

1. Inspire an innovative marketing culture inside university administration
2. Give employees the freedom and resources to represent the brand the best they can
3. Create a feedback loop from target audience segments back up to the brand management team via the communicators in the field.

The program turns the entire branding process inside out for a better understanding of the Virginia Tech brand and how it can work for a particular unit. Students may choose a minimum of six classes that are specific to their job requirements or interest level, and after completion become Certified Brand Ambassadors of Virginia Tech. The curriculum focuses on key areas of brand knowledge including:

• Basics – promise, drivers, architecture
• Development and evolution
• Key messages and style
• Visual identity
• Use in multimedia
• Campaign planning, engagement, and measurement.

After completion of the courses, a Virginia Tech Certified Brand Ambassador is able to:

• Easily use the Virginia Tech brand effectively in their daily work
• Act as a brand ambassador by sharing with co–workers tips on using the brand
• Communicate and measure their unit’s goals and objectives in line with the Virginia Tech brand
• Think “out–of–the–box” for branded design and writing strategies.

Our program started in January, 2010 and we’re now currently educating our second cohort of brand ambassadors. We’ve surveyed our participants and made changes along the way. But here are a few best practices we’d like to share for building your own brand ambassador program at your university.

• Review internal and external brand marketing trends to develop a curriculum – closely consider the type of “beyond these walls” information that people desire to learn.
• Identify executive sponsors who will believe in the program and support the long-term success of the program
• Identify and engage motivated and knowledgeable speakers.
• Show several examples of brand expression, praising the good ones instead of tearing apart bad ones.
• Utilize free on-campus resources such as classroom space, online registration tools, online survey tools, audio-visual equipment, etc.
• Leverage existing communication vehicles such as newsletters, email alerts, knowledge management systems, etc.
• Ask for support from existing professional development programs for faculty and staff.
• Think beyond employees who have marketing or communications in their title to participate in the program, including outside agencies and freelancers.
• Solicit feedback on everything – class content, presentation style, classroom, participant engagement, communication, registration, and overall value.
• Consider participant feedback to enhance class content and style mid-stream.
• Offer each class at least twice to accommodate schedule conflicts with specific times of day.
• Reward participants with an “official” accreditation, acknowledged at the highest possible level.
• Ask satisfied participants to recommend the program to peers.