Imagine What’s Next …

When you consider Moraine Park Technical College, what comes to mind?

This is an important question to us, because this is exactly what our brand is.  It’s not what I or any marketing representative says the brand is.  It’s how you, our community identifies with the college.  So after we, with our agency of record, Element, examined how our students, alumni and community felt about us, we wanted to be sure we reflected those sentiments in our communications.

• We heard overwhelmingly that MPTC has a friendly, approachable team working to support, guide and help current and potential students.
• Students receive personal attention smaller classes.
• Moraine Park is technically advanced in the trade programs and is progressive and current.
• Students value the above attributes, especially as the campuses are convenient for students who want to stay in their current communities.

In our marketing materials, therefore, we want to differentiate, focus and share the brand elements consistently.

Student Focus – Our attention focuses on our students. So do our cameras. Real Moraine Park students now appear in our advertising and collateral and collateral pieces whenever possible. We want to tell our students’ and alumni stories whenever possible, and jump-started that through this blog during the spring semester. By the way, if you have a personal Moraine Park related story you’d like to share, please contact our department!

Logo – I had shared a sneak peek at the new brand by revealing the logo earlier this year. The response to the mark has been overwhelmingly positive.

Vibrant Colors – We needed to convey a sense of confidence and energy. With that in mind, the color palette developed conveys vibrant colors that are on trend, but not too trendy.

Tagline – Students and staff were intrigued to know what our new tagline would be, and while we evaluated many good options, we ultimately selected a tagline that offered the most options for us creatively: “Imagine what’s next.” I particularly love this tagline because it provokes thought. It speaks to the traditional high school student as well as the person who waited to pursue an advanced degree. It also strikes a nerve with professionals who may be stuck in a rut and feel a calling to re-career.

You’ll see these brand elements on more an more ads, signs, materials, stationary, business cards, and the like, and we’re curious to hear what you think. Tell us what you think of our new tagline, colors in the comments.