One-stop online shop for all of your branding needs
LAU’s Marketing and Communications Department launches a user-friendly website to promote its branding services and a cohesive, university-wide communications strategy.
Practical downloads include a visual identity style guide detailing university production standards.
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LAU’s Marketing and Communications (MarCom) team has recently launched a website to heighten awareness of their services and advance the university’s public image.
“We hope to have a friendly approach, to facilitate work and ease communication between MarCom and other departments,” says Assistant Vice President Peggy Hanna. “The team here works collaboratively with LAU community members to help brand their product and make it more attractive to external audiences.”
The website introduces MarCom’s staff and highlights their capacity to support the various initiatives of LAU community members. "There was some confusion about what our office can offer, so we tried to clarify our services," explains Karina Rodriguez, MarCom’s associate director and web manager. "We have made our website very concise and user-friendly."
To that end and for optimum results, MarCom shared the website for pre-testing and review by LAU community prior to its launching.
“Thorough, informative, classy,” says Elise Salem, vice president for student development and enrollment management, of the website.
Intuitive pages assist departments and schools in developing attractive publications, websites, events, and marketing materials, while staying in line with LAU’s distinctive brand. Practical downloads include LAU editorial style guide and a visual identity style guide detailing university production standards.
Web users can also browse a comprehensive index and archive of MarCom publications, including the LAU Magazine & Alumni Bulletin, President’s Report, Academic Catalog, and annual Facts & Figures, which are all now available in PDF and virtual flip-through formats.
“I did not know that MarCom provides so many services! As I was browsing through it, I realized that there are so many projects we can cooperate on,” declares Sarah Bou Ajram, coordinator of leadership and civic engagement at the Outreach and Civic Engagement Department.
According to MarCom Assistant Director Nayla Abou Merhi Moujaes the website was thought in a way to improve internal communication and foster more collaboration with other departments while alleviating staff from tedious tasks.
Back in 2007 MarCom began to roll out a branding scheme to sure up LAU’s public image. “The institution has changed its name four times during the last century, which has created a lot of confusion in people’s minds," Hanna explains. "We were AGCW, then BCW, then BUC, before finally becoming LAU.”
“We were one of the first universities in Lebanon and the region to embark on a comprehensive and integrated branding initiative, so we had no similar institution to benchmark against,” she adds. “We also faced a lot of internal challenges, because people usually do not like change.”
After many trials and continuous input from colleagues on both campuses, the logo revamp has proved a success, meshing traditional LAU emblems with a go-getting image. “We want to promote an image of a university on the move,” says Vice President of University Advancement Richard Rumsey. “That is what LAU is all about.”
One of the key objectives of the website, therefore, is to demystify the concept of branding and clarify the added value it can bring to a publication or initiative. “Branding can clarify perceptions about LAU and promote its niches of excellence, so that people really value the wealth the university has to offer,” Hanna says.
![[photo]](marcom-website-launch-01-big.jpg)
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