In pretty much any brand refresh, brand launch is the milestone everyone’s working toward and the moment that gets all the air time. But in this session, we’re focusing due attention on the less-talked-about-but-mission-critical rollout before the rollout: the process of gaining internal brand acceptance, approval, and adoption.

In late 2024, on the heels of a months-long brand development process, Cal Poly Pomona staged a full-day communications retreat—cleverly called “Comm-Chella”—designed to ensure the broad embrace of the new “Become By Doing” brand platform by cross-campus communicators, pre-launch.

Learn how University Communications and marketing leadership, in tandem with brand partner 160over90, creatively educated attendees on the core brand positioning and its strategic underpinnings; created literacy in key visual elements; empowered communicators to take ownership of the soon-to-debut brand through interactive storytelling sessions, workshops, and resource giveaways; and reinforced that internal constituents/communicators are an institution’s top brand ambassadors.