Brand Defined
A brand is the public image, reputation, or identity that is shaped by the experiences our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community have when they visit our campus and interact with our people and programs. It is the stories that are shared across a wide variety of platforms that reinforce our efforts to be a student-focused, indigenous-serving, higher-education institution located in Kapolei, Hawaiʻi.
UH West Oʻahu’s brand identifies our unique characteristics and differentiates us from our peers. Consistent messaging, with unique, relevant stories will help to reinforce our brand within our community. Knowingly or unknowingly, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni are our brand ambassadors and serve as our main source of reinforcing who we are.
Mission and Key Message
The UH West Oʻahu brand reflects our mission of service to our community while fostering excellence in teaching and learning. More formally, our mission is to “offer a distinct and accessible student-centered education that focuses on the 21st Century learner. The University embraces Native Hawaiian culture and traditions, while promoting student success in an environment where students of all backgrounds are supported. Our campus fosters excellence in teaching, learning, and service to the community.”
In defining our brand, we get to share our stories in our way, with voices that reflect our diverse student body, informed and engaged faculty and staff, and unique culture.
The UH West O‘ahu Brand
UH West Oʻahu strives to be:
- Student-centered
- Indigenous-Serving
- Community-Based (Kaiaulu)/Inclusive
- Innovative
- Leaders (ʻOiwi Leadership)
- Sustainable
Our Voice
When writing for UH West Oʻahu marketing and communications, strive to make your text clear and understandable for all audiences. Avoid institutional or highly-academic language that may not be meaningful to the audience.
When writing copy and headlines, use a tone that conveys the UH West Oʻahu campus brand – family-oriented and student-serving. We are easy going and helpful, and are dedicated to the populations that we serve. Reflective of our faculty and staff, use language that is personable, warm, and inviting.
Remember your audience. Jargon may be all right for an in-house memo, but avoid it in material written for the general public or even a general university audience. Avoid the trendy for the basic: Why “interface on something” if you can “meet” or “discuss” it? Reread what you have written from the audience’s point of view, trying to forget what you take for granted, or ask someone who is unfamiliar with the manuscript to read it.
A Word from Chancellor Maenette Benham
What experience do we hope our students have when they step on our campus? Is it the engaged conversation with their favorite faculty, who address them by name? The cheerful greeting from fellow classmates as they enter campus? The ready answers that our knowledgable and helpful staff provide? All these build into our community’s perception of who we – the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu – are.
A unified brand is critical to increase the effectiveness of our efforts within our community, celebrate our strengths, and embrace our distinctiveness.
These experiences help to build our campus brand – and positive stories and interactions such as these reinforce our brand identity. A unified brand is critical to increase the effectiveness of our efforts within our community, celebrate our strengths, and embrace our distinctiveness. Consistent messaging will help our UH West Oʻahu community understand our uniqueness within our universal goal to make higher education accessible. We offer you a set brand guidelines to further tell our “story” visually. Please use these guidelines in all of your communications. We rely on every member of our ʻohana/family – students, staff, faculty, alumni, administration, and community partners – to Pūpūkahi i Holomua/Move Forward Together. Because together, we can be so much more.
— Chancellor Maenette Benham