#62 - Enchanting a Nation: How R. Ethan Braden is leading a bold vision for Texas A&M’s Marketing & Branding

Higher Ed Storytelling University

My guest today is R. Ethan Braden, Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University. In this episode, Ethan shares his vision for building a world-class marketing team and developing a national earned media strategy to amplify Texas A&M's brand.

Ethan discusses the five priorities he's established for his team: building a world-class marketing team, establishing a comprehensive insight-based brand platform, providing brand assets for the campus to execute the vision, cultivating a united marketing community, and pursuing a national earned media strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• Building a world-class marketing team involves hiring emotive storytellers, content strategists, and earned media experts who can "enchant" audiences with Texas A&M's stories.
• Having a distinct, insight-based brand platform allows everyone to "get in character" and consistently express the brand's essence across touchpoints.
• Providing a centralized library of high-quality branded assets (photos, videos, guidelines) enables campus partners to localize and execute marketing plans efficiently.
• Cultivating a united "marketing community" across campus fosters synergies, best practices, and a harmonious brand voice.
• Pursuing a national earned media strategy ensures Texas A&M is part of relevant national conversations, beyond just a regional reputation.
• Focus content creation on owning key subject matter spaces (e.g. Texas A&M's meat sciences department owning BBQ/smoking content on YouTube).

Connect With Ethan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertethanbraden/
• Texas A&M University: https://www.tamu.edu/

Connect With John:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni
• Website: https://unveild.tv
• Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter