About the Episode
Pulse Check: What Do We Really Need? — Pt 5: We Need to Be Bolder
“We need to be bolder” can mean something different to everyone reviewing a higher education marketing campaign. Before a team can act on that feedback, it needs to understand what the institution wants to change and what it is prepared to stand behind.
In the final episode of What Do We Really Need?, Ologie Marketing Director Erin Fields talks with Doug Edwards, Ologie’s Chief Strategy Officer, about turning that request into useful direction. Doug explains how the conversation changes depending on whether an institution is tired of its current messaging, has outgrown its brand, or needs to respond to a changing market.
Erin and Doug explore why a familiar story may still be taking root with audiences even as the marketing team grows bored with it. They also discuss the tension between competing institutional priorities and how finding their overlap can lead to stronger creative work. Through Ologie’s work with the University of Maryland’s Forward fundraising campaign, they consider how an institution can build on existing pride while giving donors a clear reason to invest in what comes next.
The conversation closes with specificity and accountability. A concrete promise gives people something they can understand, experience, and evaluate. Doug offers a useful starting point for bolder work: make the institution’s ambitions clear, show the evidence behind them, and connect their impact to everyday life.
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