Welcome to the first issue of touchpoint, a periodic e-update from the new Marketing & Communications team in the External Relations Dept. of the Michael G. Foster School of Business. touchpoint will be a temporary e-update used during the remainder of this year to bring you, our team’s internal stakeholders (School faculty and staff), timely updates regarding our School’s branding, marketing and online communications initiatives. We hope this quick read format, linking to more in-depth information, will enable you to easily find the information that is most important to you. Your feedback is extremely important, so please feel free to contact me directly at either pmccoy@u.washington.edu or 616-2452.

Thanks,

Pam McCoy
Executive Director, Marketing & Communications
External Relations
Michael G. Foster School of Business

View this newsletter in your browser

• A self-mailer brochure announcing our new name and new faculty appointments is being distributed the week of Oct 8th to an expanded mailing list of about 2,000 that includes business school deans, graduate, executive, and undergraduate program directors, and corporate partners. If you would like copies, please contact Clark McCann (543-1806).
• The fall issue of our Business magazine is nearing completion and will be mailed the week of Oct 22nd and will be posted online shortly thereafter.
• A new Web page about Michael G. Foster and the transformational gift is online, with more information available in the posted press release.
  
• The Management Program has been renamed the Executive Development Program. Web Editors should update their links to this newly named program located at http://foster.washington.edu/execed/edp/.

Marketing Materials
The Branding Assessment Project will impact all of our marketing materials (brochures, ads, direct mail, posters, giveaways, etc.), but until we have a new logo and identity system, the Marketing & Communications team recommends a strategy that will help all of our external stakeholders (alumni, students, recruiters, donors, the media, prospective students, advisory board members, etc.) create a bridge in their minds from the UW Business School to the Michael G. Foster School of Business.  To accomplish this, we will continue to use the current UW Business School logo and the University of Washington name, but also include prominently displayed text announcing “UW Business School is now the Michael G. Foster School of Business.” This visual linkage to the new name will 1) help our audiences (especially those outside the Northwest) more easily make the transition from UW Business School to Foster School of Business, 2) preserve the UW Business School brand equity built up over the past seven years and 3) reinforce the School’s status as part of the University of Washington.

Stickers announcing this name change are being created for use on existing materials, thereby extending their shelf life and helping to leverage our investment.

When referring to ourselves internally, we recommend avoiding the locution “Business School” and instead using “School of Business.”

For additional details regarding the impact to printed materials and ads, please click here and/or contact Steve Bangs (685-3932).

Online Marketing
As you know, thanks to the focused efforts of our Web experts, the UW Business School became the Michael G. Foster School of Business practically overnight on Sept 21st. However, there are many details yet to be completed. Items 4 & 5 will be of particular interest to our Web Editors.

To enable you to find the information you need as quickly as possible, we have reorganized the Communications and Web categories on IN located in the right hand navigation area to the categories of Branding, School & Program Information, Web Editors and Web Images & Graphics.

For more information on the following, please click the appropriate link.

1. Updating Your Email Signature: The most inexpensive and immediate way to communicate our new name is to update your email signature. Marketing & Communications recommends this format:

Your Name
Your Title, Your Dept, Center or Program Name
Michael G. Foster School of Business
University of Washington
T: 206.xxx.xxxx | F: 206.xxx.xxxx
C: 206.xxx.xxxx
E: youremail@u.washington.edu
Your Hall
Box xxxxxx
Seattle, WA 98195-xxxx
foster.washington.edu

2. E-Newsletters: Please continue to use your current format that includes the UW Business School logo. However, we suggest changing the body copy to reflect the new School name and adding this line of text in the footer: “UW Business School is now the Michael G. Foster School of Business.”
3. Powerpoint Presentation: Click here for more information about downloading a new temporary Foster branded PowerPoint template.
4. Our Web Style Guide has been updated including how to properly use the name, add contact information, etc.
5. School Web site Updates: Please click here for detailed information about:
   • web editors to-do check list for name change tasks (Excel File download)
   • updating URLs
   • making body copy changes regarding our new name by Nov 1st
   • using a new banner on micro sites and landing pages to highlight our new name
6. Web Site Projects: Please continue to use the Suggestion Box at the bottom of each School Web Site page to request specific page corrections or updates. For new project requests, please e-mail Ann Vandor, who will be tracking all requests for review and prioritization by the Web Steering Committee, which meets weekly. We will follow up with you within a week of your request.

For Online Marketing questions, please contact: Ann Vandor (616-7089) or Jocelyn Milici (616-1337).