When Chico State unveiled its first-ever visual and narrative identity rebrand in 2021, launching amidst the pandemic with limited funds and few in-person touchpoints, it wasn’t widely embraced outside the central university communications office. While visual changes were easier for faculty and staff to understand and implement, the narrative piece—and how to integrate it into their daily work—was mostly ignored and lagged behind. To address this and the university’s need to improve enrollment, the communications team spent summer and fall 2023 developing what we called the Integrated Experience Strategy, which articulated in depth not only what our brand pillars were but how to use them to set Chico State apart. We then took the content on an extensive road show, training areas across campus on the pillars. Toolkits and templates were also created to make implementation even easier. Through these efforts, we’ve created thousands of brand ambassadors who echo familiar themes and build a cohesive experience of what it means to learn or work at Chico State. Not only did units learn to filter their offerings through the brand-pillar lens, but they are now proactive in incorporating the identity into their work—it’s making its way into marketing materials for colleges and majors, refreshing website content, and becoming part of the vernacular as we learn how to distinguish ourselves in our promotion and everyday conversations for the first time.
From the Judges
This strategy had thorough supporting materials and a plan to engage the entire campus community in aligning with the brand. An ambitious undertaking with early results looking very promising. Good work, Chico State!
