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College and university marketers have to work hard to gather research and build campus consensus around a new brand position. Although the goal is to develop a distinctive position, the reality is that many higher ed branding projects result in some awfully similar creative executions.

Next week, we\u2019ll round up ten recent examples of \u201cOne-Word Wonders\u201d \u2013 higher ed brands that try to \u201cown a word\u201d in the marketplace. But in this teaser episode, we\u2019ll look at two of them that wind up looking awfully similar.

Brescia University College, affiliated with Western University in London Ontario, is Canada\u2019s only women\u2019s university. In 2009, they launched a new brand position that focused on a key benefit of a single-gender learning environment: young women become more confident and outspoken. Thus \u201cBrescia Bold\u201d was born.

Brescia Bold Teaser (Sept 2017) - https://youtu.be/TDqmcIgOMks

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Almost a decade later, a Catholic university in St Louis Missouri, Maryville University (which perhaps coincidentally was also founded as a women\u2019s college back in 1872, although it went coed in 1968) developed a new brand campaign for its online programs, offered in partnership with Pearson.\xa0 The campaign focused on the bravery of adult students going back to study, and the creative hinged on another \u201cb\u201d word, \u201cBrave\u201d: \u201cLet\u2019s Be Brave Together,\u201d \u201cThe Future Belongs to the Brave,\u201d etc.

Maryville University campaign - https://mistress.agency/work/maryville-university-lets-be-brave-together-ad-campaign/

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Brescia and Maryville, about 500 miles apart, were both founded as Catholic women\u2019s colleges (although each has adapted and evolved since then). Yet in trying to convey the quality of their students, they arrived at very similar words: \u201cBold\u201d and \u201cBrave.\u201d

Later this week, Ten with Ken will examine 10 examples of similar \u201cOne-Word Wonders\u201d in a full-length episode.\xa0To be sure you don\u2019t miss it, take a moment now to subscribe!