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Branding Toolkit

We're glad you're here. Our branding toolkit is filled with tips, tools, and resources to support faculty, staff, and university partners as they transition to our new name and brand, and to help you champion IDEA's visual identity.

Have something you'd like to see available in our branding toolkit? Email us your idea!

New Name and Rebranding Timeline

Our alliance has been through a lot of change in the past two years. Learn more about how we got here.

  • A New Name

    For several years, alliance faculty and staff have reported fielding questions about confusion in our name from colleagues, conference planners, associations, regents, and prospective students. Further, some alliance members feel the name hampers their ability to recruit across the United States. So, in October 2022 the cabinet started discussions of a potential name change.

    They first tasked the management team to research the benefits and risks of a name change, learn about companies and organizations who have successfully navigated a name change, create a budget that ensures this initiative is fully funded, and create a timeline outlining every step of the way. All three governing bodies (the cabinet, Human Sciences Board, and AG Board) were presented with this research and the cabinet voted to proceed with exploring a new name at their March 23, 2023, meeting.

    The cabinet announced the initiative during the 2023 annual conference in Kansas City, and that very afternoon it was also announced in the Alliance Insider, our monthly newsletter for faculty and staff, and through an email sent to active students. Read the April 2023 newsletter.

    The alliance community was surveyed twice, multiple focus groups were held, market research was conducted, and the cabinet voted on a new name at their September 2023 meeting. Read the announcement of our new name in our October 2023 Alliance Insider.

  • A New Visual Identity

    The management team worked with a design firm to select our new logo and color palette. With the basis of our new brand determined, the next step was to begin updating documents, creating collateral, and planning our brand launch.

    While our new name is rooted in our history, our new visual identity honors that legacy while celebrating the future and positioning IDEA to be transformative in the landscape of higher education. IDEA's new visual identity was introduced to the world in the first week of April 2024. Read the official announcement and reveal in the Alliance Insider.

    The following week, the alliance community celebrated our new name and brand during the 2024 Annual Conference in Kansas City. During the celebration, unique promotional items were distributed, attendees took a deep dive into the new branding elements, a champagne toast was enjoyed, and a branding buffet was made available so that attendees could take items back to the campuses to build excitement and share the news of IDEA's transformation in name and look.

    At the end of the conference, the April Alliance Insider provided an update to members unable to attend the conference and provided access to a branding toolkit filled with resources to support faculty, staff, and university partners as they transition to our new name and brand. Read the newsletter.

  • A New Virtual Experience

    To complement IDEA’s new visual brand identity, our virtual experiences also evolved. The management team partnered with a design and development firm to create an accessible site that matches the vision of the rebrand. Our new site will be a trusted source for students and faculty - just as our old site was - to connect with the consortium and learn about our programs, curriculum, course planner, and faculty. The new website launched in July 2024 and features familiar navigation and intuitive design to highlight relevant content and make information easy to find.

    We took this opportunity to apply to EDUCAUSE for a .edu web address and were approved. Having a .edu URL will help search engines and users better understand our purpose.

  • A New Approach to Marketing

    During the 2024 Annual Conference in Kansas City, attendees learned how recent research from the Education Dynamics Online College Students Report will inform a new strategic approach to recruitment across the alliance. Read a full retelling of this new approach in our May 2024 Alliance Insider. 

    The gist of our approach is to understand when to lead with university or alliance branding.

    A University-First Approach to Recruitment

    Your university's reputation is critical in recruiting prospective students to IDEA programs. If you are marketing within your state or on your campus, it’s important to have a university-first approach. A university-first approach will use your university’s colors and branding.

    An Alliance-First Approach to Recruitment

    When recruiting or raising awareness about an IDEA program through initiatives that cross state lines or engage prospective students from numerous regions of the country, an alliance-first approach will guide them to the alliance website, where all member universities are equally represented. An alliance-first approach will use our new visual identity.

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