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$60 pair of shoes or a $1,000 computer. The selection of a business school becomes a part of a student's personal branding process. – George Sopko, Stanton Crenshaw Communications Sopko, to an individual's view of the world. "At a cost of $60,000 to $100,000, an MBA is a very carefully con- sidered purchase. It's not a $60 pair of shoes or a $1,000 computer," says Sopko. "The selection of a business school becomes a part of a student's personal branding process." Branding goes beyond a product or school, says A Bold New Brand at Weatherhead "Bold ideas. Lasting impact." Those four words, which are the foundation of the new brand for Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, have 18 months of work and soul-searching behind them. The school, based in Cleveland, Ohio, worked in part with Stanton Crenshaw Communications to develop its new brand, which was recently launched in a schoolwide celebration. Michael Devlin, Weatherhead's executive director of rela- brand statement: "Among the world's best business schools, Weatherhead is a leading catalyst for advancing bold ideas that have a lasting impact on business and society." What's important about that statement, says Devlin, is not just that people hear those words, but that they internalize the brand's message, which will become a part of every form with a laugh, the theme that ran through all of those stories became evident. "Finally, we came to the conclusion that our history is punctuated with some really radical ideas, and that those ideas that peppered our history were really what makes Weatherhead unique. So, that's where 'Bold ideas. Lasting impact' came from." Those four words are taken from the following, longer ments within the business school, they all had their own sto- ries to tell, says Devlin. "The exec ed department said, 'We teach leadership better than anyone else.' Our admissions staff said, 'We treat our applicants with more consideration.' Our health systems management department said, 'We teach health systems management better than any other school, and we've been doing it for 35 years.'" While those claims may or may not be true, Devlin adds tionship management, notes that it took some time for school staff to come to an agreement about what the larger busi- ness school represented, to itself and to the public. "Every two weeks, everyone who communicated with various audi- ences met, and I asked, 'What is unique about Weatherhead? What makes it different from Duke or Emory?'" However, because they all came from different depart- of internal and external communication in the school. The goal, he says, is that the school's faculty, students, and staff all begin to tell the same story. "Beyond that, I hope that it becomes so much a part of our culture that it becomes second nature to people," says Devlin. "I hope that when you meet someone from Weatherhead, that person will be talking to you in terms of the school's ongoing legacy of bold ideas." Such an internalization of the message is already clear in will comprise a much larger portion of their identity than the shoes they wear, the cola they drink, or the cars they drive. Students will identify with the business schools they choose, and so they will choose those schools carefully. It only follows that business schools, as well, must very care- fully create their brands. ■ Over the long term, the degrees students eventually earn z The Peter B. Lewis Building at the Weatherhead School of Management some of the world's biggest companies, Devlin points out. "Look at Ford, which proclaimed that 'Quality is job one.' That was a statement not just to customers, dealers, and suppliers, but also to its employees. No matter whether an employee works on the production line, in the marketing department, or in the finance department, Ford is going to stand for quality, so you'd better come to work with that in mind." Weatherhead's brand is only a few months old, says Devlin, but it already has taken hold of the imaginations of its staff. "I was at a marketing meeting, and someone offered an idea that we host a major annual conference on a particular area of expertise. Immediately, all the barriers went up and every- one started saying, 'Yeah, but…' "The person simply responded, 'Hey, this is a bold idea and it would have a lasting impact on the school.' That stopped everyone. The idea won instant respect," Devlin says. "The brand is already at work. I think that's wonderful." BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 29