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New Branding Helps Leading College Store Fortify Its Market Position
THE CLIENT:
The Cornell Store is the official retail store of Cornell University and one of the most sophisticated and efficient independent college stores in the collegiate retailing industry.
THE CHALLENGE:
The Store sought to strengthen brand awareness and fortify its position as the Cornell community’s best retail resource for everything from textbooks and electronic course materials to personalized clothing, convenience items, computers, and state-of-the-art technology.
The Cornell Store asked Gianfagna Strategic Marketing to evaluate its brand identity and recommend a new branding strategy to strengthen its market position, better communicate its value to campus constituents, and capitalize on opportunities to increase sales.
THE GIANFAGNA SOLUTION:
The first step in developing the new branding strategy involved marketing consulting and extensive research among campus constituents to identify perceptions of the Store and pinpoint the value the Store delivers to the University. This research included a thorough assessment of the Store’s marketing efforts.
Gianfagna then developed a comprehensive set of strategic recommendations for moving forward with marketing and branding. Among the recommendations was development of a new brand strategy to differentiate the Store from competitors, communicate its value as a desirable, multi-channel shopping destination with exciting, valuable merchandise, and convey its exclusive Cornell relationship.
The graphic design of the new Store logo and brand identity features a simplified, contemporary treatment of an iconic Cornell campus symbol, the McGraw clock tower, and captures the Store’s unique setting on campus, with a modern swoosh representing the hill under which the Store is built in the heart of the Cornell campus. The typeface for the brand logo matches the University’s official typeface, to help communicate the Store’s position as an entity of the University.
The new marketing tagline, “Here to Help You Succeed” conveys the store's mission as an indispensible resource for academic success. Key messages were developed to support this brand positioning in all marketing materials and marketing channels.
THE RESULTS:
The new branding strategy has helped the Cornell Store establish a more dynamic market presence and build higher awareness of its value. The new branding has been implemented throughout the Store’s retail and web stores and the integrated marketing campaigns Gianfagna has created to target key audiences, such as graduating students and new students, as well as broader communications initiatives, such as a campaign about the Store’s environmental sustainability initiatives. The new branding strategy has also enhanced the communication power of the Store’s popular shopping bags, which travel around campus and are re-used by customers, and its in-store point-of-purchase merchandising displays and marketing messages.
The Cornell Store’s new brand identity won a prestigious 2008 Communicator Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts in the Logo Design category.
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