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Friday, April 19
Noon–1:30 p.m.
Keynote Luncheon

Marketing Blunder? Hardly. How Being “Boldly Californian” Brought Down a Logo and Left A Stronger University of California

The University of California system has seen nearly $1 billion in state funding cuts and a resulting 84 percent tuition increase since 2008. Furloughs, cutbacks, pepper spray and protest ensued. In the midst of it all, the system’s communications team crafted a strategy to ensure that Californians understood the university’s relevance, reach and impact. The approach was risky. In the end, Californians opted to tax themselves to fend off further higher education cuts. Then, more than 50,000 people signed a petition to kill a logo that symbolized the university’s inherent challenges. In this session, you will learn what happened and what lies ahead.
 
Jason Simon is director of marketing communications,
University of California. Connect with Jason on Twitter.