One Word Branding Campaigns

Have you heard about Oberlin's 2-year old branding campaign? NPR recently talked about it and had some interesting thoughts to share from Oberlin's current and prospective students. Many of Oberlin's current students have mocked the campaign - making fun of it on campus, videos posted on YouTube, even writing songs parodying it. The campaign? It's "We Are Oberlin: Fearless". Ironically, despite current students saying they are not comfortable with the label "fearless", they have shown a certain fearlessness in their open ridicule of the campaign. The intention of the campaign was to get Oberlin noticed by more prospective students -- and it has apparently tested quite well among this population. Feedback stated that it caught their attention -- they know it's marketing, but it did make them take a second look.