GMMB Response to Washington State Department of Enterprise Services Competitive Solicitation No. 20422 – Category 2
Contact: Janet Goss, Janet.Goss@gmmb.com
3.3 Brand Refresh: Pacific Lutheran University (PLU)
Pacific Lutheran University is a small liberal arts college located in Tacoma, Washington. In spring 2020, after undergoing a strategic planning process, university leadership realized there was a need to refresh the brand to position the university as a singular and relevant higher education institution that spoke to the needs of college students today. GMMB partnered with the college to refresh the look-and-feel and messaging of the brand.
Brand Summit
GMMB hosted a brand summit for PLU leadership outlining the branding process, insights we found through our discovery process. The summit included exercises to learn more about the brand positioning.
Message Architecture
As part of the branding process, GMMB developed a brand story and accompanying message architecture to help accurately convey the brand to various audiences in ways that would resonate with them most. Audiences included prospective students, parents, and guidance counselors; alumni, current students, faculty and staff, and community leaders and policymakers.
Logo Iterations
After developing their new voice we turned our attention to the logo — specifically the alignment of the “supportive L”. We created many iterations showing updated “L”s as well as alternative typefaces for the full name lock-up. We decided to stay with the original font – Palatino – but increased the thickness of the “PLU” for small size uses, such as social media.
PLU Brand and Campaign Guide
GMMB created a brand style guide to ensure the new brand visual identity and messaging are consistent across all collateral and develop guidelines for the “Unconventional” PLU admissions campaign. This style guide contains a brand manifesto, color palette, typography, logo usage, design elements and examples, voice and tone, and examples of branded collateral materials.
Brand Campaign Presentation
GMMB developed a presentation showcasing assets created with the new brand elements for the PLU “Unconventional” admissions campaign as well as a brand manifesto and mood board. Branded assets included a graphic library, billboard designs, print collateral, admissions booth signage, and social assets
