CU vs BYU: DSI and Value Proposition
A post for Design Studio II Branding class. I’d like to talk about the University of Colorado and then my experiences with my first alma mater, Brigham Young University.
University of Colorado’s Dominant Selling Idea
In 2009 The Board of Regents met and drafted a new mission statement for the 4 colleges of the CU system (prior to this there was no unified, whole statement). Officially, this statement reads:
The University of Colorado is a multicampus public research university serving Colorado, the nation, and the world through high-quality education and professional training, public service, leadership in advancing research and knowledge, and state-of-the-art health care.
Each of its three institutions has a distinct role and mission articulated in the Colorado Constitution and state statutes.
I would say, both from the perspective of this statement and my own experience, that the University of Colorado is Colorado’s public university.
UC Denver’s DSI
UC Denver, poor thing, is often (and almost always online) lumped in with the medical campus’ mission. Officially its unique mission statement is:
UC Denver is a diverse teaching and learning community that creates, discovers and applies knowledge to improve the health and well-being of Colorado and the world.
From personal experience I would ay that UC Denver is the university of Colorado located in Denver. This means that UC Denver also suffers the same fate, testing-wise, that CU’s DSI as a whole does.
CU’s DSI Tests
This DSI fails all the branding tests I know. It fails most of the DSI tests (it is neither Superlative, Important, Believable or Memorable, though tangible it is); Fails the DSI Message test (Golden Question, Substitution, and mostly fails the Star Question), and certainly fails in a Specialty Test. As far as a Value Proposition goes, the emotional benefits and the self-expressive benefits are the same and not very inspiring: the student of the University of Colorado is going to a university in Colorado, and has the emotional connection to Colorado (and Denver, in the case of UC Denver). This could be great if the image of Colorado is positive in our audience’s head or if the reputation of the college is good, but in general it’s a tenuous position at best.
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Background
For my first degree I attended Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. BYU is owned, operated and subsidised by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. This school was unique in that it was the only Mormon University in the world. *
Brigham Young University’s Dominant Selling Idea
BYU’s DSI is that BYU is the Lord’s University; from the perspective of the outside world, BYU is the university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mission of the university piggybacks on the mission of the church: the “exaltation and eternal life of the Saints”. In this role, BYU assists individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life, a quest that involves many rules to be followed, tasks to be accomplished, and traits to develop in a setting of intensive learning.
DSI Tests
BYU passes all of the DSI tests I know. The DSI is Superlative, Important, Believable, Memorable, and Tangible; it gets strong marks in the DSI Message test (Golden Question, Substitution, and Star Question), and certainly excels in a Specialty Test (University -> Religious University -> The only University of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
BONUS: Touchpoint – Family Home Evening
Each Monday evening, every student in BYU gathers into what are called “Family Home Evening Groups”. The Family Home Evening (FHE) program was started in 1915 as an evening where families gather to bond together in activities and receive instruction by parents. Knowing that many of the college students are at BYU away from families and yet don’t have their own family started yet, BYU instituted Family Home Evening on campus by gathering groups of students organized by location and under the direction of the local church leader.
By having FHE each Monday, BYU is certainly giving students a touchpoint that creates a resonance with the school’s DSI. By participating in Family Home Evening just as all the members of the church do, BYU is connecting itself and the students back to the primary focus of the school, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. BYU is certainly loyal to its positioning by supporting students in community and inspiring them in these meetings to follow rules, accomplish tasks, and develop positive traits. The value proposition is also supported: by participating in these meetings every Monday night, the BYU student is substantially connected to every other member of the church in their obedience to this program.
(*Disclaimer: I am no longer a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-day Saints)
References:
History of Family Home Evening: http://lib.byu.edu/sites/educationinzion/2011/02/25/why-is-fhe-a-big-deal/
Article on Family Home Evening at BYU: http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/64905
Mission statement of BYU: http://unicomm.byu.edu/president/missionstatement.aspx
Positioning vs Value Proposition: http://www.mb-journal.com/archives/2005/2005-05.shtml
CU mission statement (draft): https://www.cusys.edu/newsletter/2009/07-22/mssion-statement.pdf
UC Denver mission statement: http://www.ucdenver.edu/about/WhoWeAre/Pages/Mission.aspx
DSI Tests from the book Why Johnny Can’t Brand by Bill Schley
Positioning and messaging info from Designing Brand Identity by Alaina Wheeler