The School of Business launches a new personal branding campaign this semester that is expected to provide a more unified image for the school, said Jeff Waite, director of external relations for the business school. The new look, which costs about $10,000, consists of a basic design for all business school advertisements, products, office supplies and its Web site. It also includes the new tagline, “It’s more than business, it’s personal.”

Different departments of the business school had different looks they wanted to connect, said Waite, who added that the campaign will be fully implemented in six to nine months.

“There will be one Neeley look that, hopefully, will be identified in the marketplace,” he said. “Now there’s a new look and feel for the Neeley School that represents all of the Neeley School.”

He said the tagline was derived from three ideas the business school and community found in their research from surveys given to faculty, students, staff, alumni and local businesses, which were meant to define the school. The ideas were: personal, connected and real.

He said the “personal” comes from the education that a business school student receives, the “connected” represents the contact

students experience with the outside community, and “real” comes from the real world experiences students receive.

“It’s a lot more than sitting in a lecture room and a lot more than text books,” Waite said. “They’re actually out in the real environment.”

Waite said the cost for the new look came from the external relations department’s pre-existing budget, and said the school worked for about six months with the Balcom Agency, a local advertising company, to create the campaign.

The Balcom Agency’s presentation was chosen for the business school after it had put out bids to various advertising agencies, said Kim Speairs, account director for Balcom.

Carol Glover, creative director for the Balcom Agency, said brochures and advertisements of other universities’ business schools are cluttered with too much information and are confusing for the audience. By creating a cleaner look, she said, the business school will be able to stand out.

“We simplified the look and feel, and added a lot of white to the look,” Glover said.

Waite said that, so far, feedback about the campaign has been positive.

Kortney Caldwell, a junior nursing major, said she likes the new campaign.

“They are representing their slogan,” she said. “It reflects who they are and what they’re doing.