SEMO to begin deploying new logo on April 20

A representative from Ologie, a higher-education branding and marketing firm, presented details of Southeast Missouri State University's new logo and rebranding campaign at the chamber of commerce's monthly First Friday Coffee event Friday.

The university will begin to roll out the new logo April 20 and has scheduled campuswide activities to celebrate.

At Friday's event, Laura Rees of Ologie explained the steps behind creating Southeast's new brand.

"We talked to many people -- students, parents, members of the community -- about what Southeast does, what makes it great," she said.

After learning what defines Southeast, Rees said, it was time to create the new logo.

"It's a symbol that represents something so much bigger," Rees said. "Looking at the current Southeast logo, we wanted to go through a really long process to make sure that we were doing the right thing in changing it."

About 40 to 50 variations of the logo were created before the final version was approved.

"We talked to some potential students, we talked to high school students, to see what they thought about some of these finalized logos, and they really wanted to see a logo that was very collegiate," she said. "They also wanted to demonstrate how long the university had been around."

The current logo has too many variations, officials said, and is difficult to place in some marketing materials because of intricately drawn details.

The finalized version includes a simplified rendering of the Academic Hall dome, as well as the university's name and "1873" to represent the year Southeast was established.

The branding celebration will begin with a lunch, planned in cooperation with the Student Government Association, at noon April 20 in front of Kent Library, officials announced in a news release Friday. A thousand free T-shirts will be distributed to students, live entertainment will be provided, and there will be cupcakes with the new Southeast logo.

Starting that week, 120 outdoor pole banners with the new brand will go up across campus, and large hanging banners conveying Southeast's branding will appear on Houck Field House and the Aleen Vogel Wehking Alumni Center.

Indoor spaces will get a new look, officials said, with banners to be hung from the atrium of the River Campus Cultural Arts Center, the Skylight Terrace in the University Center and in several other locations.

The cornerstone of the brand, "The Will To Do," describes today's Southeast students, "who are tenacious and enterprising, while practical and self-assured in their skills and prepared to launch extraordinary careers in an evolving workforce," the release said.

An interactive graphic display inviting people to express their "Will To Do" will appear on a wall overlooking the third floor lounge area in the University Center.

Southeast's website, semo.edu, also will be updated April 20 with the logo, and the new branding message will be pushed out in Southeast's social media channels using hashtags related to the branding.

In June, a $193,000 contract was awarded to Ologie, based in Columbus, Ohio, to conduct the brand analysis and provide recommendations about a new university identity and messaging concept.

The board of regents in February approved the new university identity and branding.

"Since then, Ologie moved through their 'Discover, Define and Create' process and conducted numerous focus groups and interviews with a wide variety of constituents, both on and off campus, completed a communications audit of all Southeast marketing and admissions materials and websites and reviewed the positions of peer institutions," the release said.

Kenneth Dobbins, president of Southeast, said: "We are really pleased with the efforts and ideas Ologie brought to Southeast. Their process really enabled them to discover the essence of this institution."

klamb@semissourian.com

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