Cornell's rebranding makes the Times

[Gothamite]

From the New York Times:

Cornell's Worried Image Makers Wrap Themselves in Ivy

By ALAN FINDER

Published: April 22, 2006

ITHACA, N.Y. ? Cornell has been a member of the Ivy League for decades, but some of its students have Ivy envy.

So driven by a sense that Cornell is underappreciated, some of them banded together to form an "image committee," making it their mission to press the university into marketing and branding itself more aggressively, and to help it climb higher in college rankings.

Their fear is being viewed as a country cousin to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, more like a Midwestern flagship state university than a core member of a prestigious club. "Because of when most people go to college, their identity becomes closely associated with the identity of their university," said Peter Cohl, a committee founder who graduated last spring and is now working on Madison Avenue.

Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping." (Cornell is now ranked 13th among national universities by U.S. News & World Report.)

"We deserve more respect," said Heather Grantham, a senior who is now co-chairwoman of the image committee. "I am glad I came here," she added, "and it saddens us if it's not properly marketed."

It is an odd bit of role reversal. Marketing and honing an image have become commonplace among university presidents and admissions deans these days. But it is rare to hear students speaking the same language.

In this case, the committee, which was formed four years ago and now has about 50 members, successfully lobbied administrators to jettison a relatively new logo, which featured a large, bright red box with the word Cornell in modern typeface, and to revert to a simplified version of the old circular logo, with a crest and other traditional symbols.

The committee also persuaded the bookstore to stock a line of vintage hats and sweatshirts that decidedly emphasize Cornell's Ivy League roots. Next up is an assault on class size. "If they can reduce class size, they can be a Top 5 school," said Mr. Cohl, a nontraditional student who was 38 when he enrolled at Cornell.

Some recent developments have bolstered the students' view that Cornell was not putting its best foot forward, committee members say, and that changing its image has helped. Applications have increased by 35 percent in the last two years, and so it has been able become more selective, with the proportion of applicants offered admission declining to 24.7 percent this year from 31 percent three years ago.

Many elite universities also experienced increases in applications this year, but few if any have been as large as Cornell's. Its rate of admissions, while declining, is still higher than the seven other Ivy League universities.

More at the Times' website.

There's a couple pictures of the new stuff:

Peter Cohl graduated last year and now works in product branding.

And here is the "updated" logo that they've gone away from:

It's interesting - the only Cornell alum I know is an old girlfriend of mine, and she hated the new logos as well. They weren't dignified enough for her taste, which seems to be the general complaint in the article.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

As a former Ithaca College student, I could care less about Cornell's image problems. They wanted the stupid bear, they got the stupid bear. I'm sure they'll soon find out a simple "C" isn't going to do much better for them.

Rather then concern themselves with their multiple world-class libraries, their all-star faculty, their terrific law and medical programs, their beautiful facilities, and all of the natural advantages of location in the handsome Finger Lakes region, they want to complain about US News' rankings and a silly logo.

Please.

[Gothamite]

Rather then concern themselves with their multiple world-class libraries, their all-star faculty, their terrific law and medical programs, their beautiful facilities, and all of the natural advantages of location in the handsome Finger Lakes region, they want to complain about US News' rankings and a silly logo.

Why can't they do both?

That's like the argument that pro teams shouldn't ever worry about their logo, they should improve the quality of play on the field. As if it was an either/or proposition....

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Rather then concern themselves with their multiple world-class libraries, their all-star faculty, their terrific law and medical programs, their beautiful facilities, and all of the natural advantages of location in the handsome Finger Lakes region, they want to complain about US News' rankings and a silly logo.

Why can't they do both?

That's like the argument that pro teams shouldn't ever worry about their logo, they should improve the quality of play on the field. As if it was an either/or proposition....

Us Ithaca College alums are known for having a huge chip on our shoulders when it comes to Cornell. It's tough work going to a small college that shares a small town with a huge university.

I'm basically required to scoff at and explain why everything Cornell does is stupid. Call it Insigificant Brother Complex.

[Brian in Boston]

And here is the "updated" logo that they've gone away from:

Actually, that's not quite correct.

The "large, bright red box with the word Cornell in modern typeface" referred to in the New York Times article is this logo:

In 2004, said logo was replaced - at the behest of the "image committee" - with this new mark:

To date, the Cornell University athletics logos have been unaffected by the redesign of the university logo. The Cornell Big Red logo that is most often used to officially identify the university's athletic teams remains:

In fact, it appears on the header banner of the university's official athletics website:

Several other "bear" logos, including the one you posted, continue to be part of the official Cornell University Big Red athletics branding package. In fact, the bear logo you posted - sans box - currently appears on the athletic department's official website, as well.

[Gothamite]

I gladly stand corrected. Thanks!

[Hat Boy]

Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

His self worth is tied to the natioanl ranking of this college?!? What a loser.

[BawlmerOreos]

Rather then concern themselves with their multiple world-class libraries, their all-star faculty, their terrific law and medical programs, their beautiful facilities, and all of the natural advantages of location in the handsome Finger Lakes region, they want to complain about US News' rankings and a silly logo.

Why can't they do both?

That's like the argument that pro teams shouldn't ever worry about their logo, they should improve the quality of play on the field. As if it was an either/or proposition....

Us Ithaca College alums are known for having a huge chip on our shoulders when it comes to Cornell. It's tough work going to a small college that shares a small town with a huge university.

I'm basically required to scoff at and explain why everything Cornell does is stupid. Call it Insigificant Brother Complex.

Sounds like an issue that needs to be hashed out over a beer at the Lost Dog.

Ithaca is Gorges!!

Cornell's argument is valid, though. The athletic logos don't feel very "classic" but neither do some others in the Ivy League (like Columbia, for example.)

[leopard88]

Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

His self worth is tied to the natioanl ranking of this college?!? What a loser.

I had the same thought. I was hoping maybe I was missing the sarcasm, but I don't think there was any.

[Ron Mexico]

I'm sorry, those new ones are corny. Seth Payne's alma mater sounds like a bunch of whiners with this. And I think actually admitting you care about athletics is grounds for being kicked out of the Ivy League.

[slats7]

"my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

Oh .. my .. God. He should have been punched in the face just for uttering this bit of drivel.

[Ron Mexico]

"my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

Oh .. my .. God. He should have been punched in the face just for uttering this bit of drivel.

OMG I didn't even see that. He should just kill himself.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

His self worth is tied to the natioanl ranking of this college?!? What a loser.

To be fair, people are drawn to schools like Cornell because of this very attitude. Thus, his comments don't shock me in the least.

Ok, he's still a loser. He can feel that way, but did he really need to verbalize it?

[Gothamite]

Spoken like a bunch of people who couldn't get into the Ivy League.

Me, too, incidentally - rejected by two of 'em.

And I think actually admitting you care about athletics is grounds for being kicked out of the Ivy League.

As mentioned above, this isn't about athletics logos. This is about logos for the school itself.

[iowahoo]

As a graduate of the REAL Cornell, Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. I say they need something to rebrand themseleves and seperate themselves from the real Cornell.

Can you believe that at one time they actually asked my school to consider changing names, despite the fact Cornell College is OLDER than the one in Ithaca.

Our Ram will take their bear any day.

[MikeJones]

As a graduate of the REAL Cornell, Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. I say they need something to rebrand themseleves and seperate themselves from the real Cornell.

Can you believe that at one time they actually asked my school to consider changing names, despite the fact Cornell College is OLDER than the one in Ithaca.

Our Ram will take their bear any day.

The real Cornell? when you ask around, the Cornell people know is the Ivy League university that is one of the top ranked research universities in the world, not a small liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere.

(by the way, I'm a recent Cornell University graduate)

The rebranding that NYT is talking about is the change of logo away from the "Big Red Box" that IMO resembles the JC Penney logo to the new logo with the university crest. Yes, branding and rankings do make a big deal because higher ranking attracts higher quality students. Cornell has been ranked 13 or 14 in the past couple years and a recent goal of the university was to improve the school's image by updating the website and logo (the website used to be butt ugly). Believe it or not, a university is run just like a corporation, and marketing is essential in attracting customers (in this case students). Better image leads to more applicants, which in turn lowers overall acceptance rate. Lower acceptance rate improves rankings, which attracts even more applicants. That was the goal Cornell has set out to achieve, and from what I heard, overall admittance rate has decreased this year comparing to previous years. Better quality of students attracts better faculty, and that also has an effect in improving the overall image of the school.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

"my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

Oh .. my .. God. He should have been punched in the face just for uttering this bit of drivel.

OMG I didn't even see that. He should just kill himself.

Given Cornell's suicide statistics, he probably will.

I'm not sure if that's funny or not.

[MikeJones]

on a semi-related note, Cornell's mascot bear has been named Playboy's Mascot of the Month lol

http://media.www.cornellsun.com/media/stor...gepublisher.com

[Gothamite]

Okay, that's funny.

[iowahoo]

The real Cornell? when you ask around, the Cornell people know is the Ivy League university that is one of the top ranked research universities in the world, not a small liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere.

(by the way, I'm a recent Cornell University graduate)

Strike a cord, did I? That was a tongue in cheek post on my part, although I do find it a little bizarre that CU asked CC to change names given the history.

Also, Cornell College may be in the middle of no-where but here is a sport fact from my tiny ass (1,000 enrollment), they hold the record for the smallest school to ever win an NCAA "big School" national championship as they won the 1947 NCAA wrestling championship beating out storied programs like Okalhoma State and Iowa. The team had multiple AAU and Olympic contenders on it.