Startup Aggieland marketer receives International Brand Master award

Shelly Brenckman, marketing coordinator at Texas A&M University’s Startup Aggieland, was named the 2015 International Brand Master, announced competition sponsor, Educational Marketing Group, Inc. (EMG) http://www.emgonline.com. This international award, now in its seventh year, is presented annually to an exemplary educational brand manager. Brenckman took top honors for her ability to create a story-centered brand while utilizing creative and traditional marketing techniques with zero dollars in the marketing budget.

Startup Aggieland, powered by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, keeps Brenckman busy as the only full-time staff member in the 1 1/2 employee program. She developed the name of the program and brand identity through strategic story telling techniques. In addition, she utilized guerilla marketing, event promotion, social media platforms, and media releases. Brenckman collaborated with Texas A&M’s Marketing & Communications division to get their support for distribution and to amplify Startup Aggieland’s message with their own media releases. She worked with campus publications to help spread the word about Texas A&M’s student startups and accelerator, including Aggiebound magazine for future students and their parents, and The Battalion student daily.

One of the first things that Brenckman did was to organize a stylish photo shoot to showcase Startup Aggieland students as part of its branding. These photos helped the brand have a consistent theme throughout all digital and print materials so it would be easily recognizable and stand out. The brand was also promoted using t-shirt marketing, event/mobile app marketing, and giveaways Brenckman carefully protects the Startup Aggieland brand so it is not overused and maintains its mystique. She also has utilized popup banners to promote Startup Aggieland’s academic partners and sponsors, as well as the brand itself.

“When I think of Startup Aggieland, I think of Shelly,” said Rodney Hill, presidential professor, former assistant dean, and founding board member of Startup Aggieland. “She helped raise it from an idea, nourished it to where it is a nationally-recognized business accelerator for students, and now faculty, too. During her involvement with Startup Aggieland, the three-year-old program has been showcased at the White House in Washington D.C. and students in the program have earned many awards at international pitch competitions. Shelly is the marketing soul of Startup Aggieland, having come up with the name and brand identity.”

Brenckman competed against two other strong finalists to win top honors in the International Brand Master competition. Katie Kempf, alumnae relations and special events, Ursuline Academy, St. Louis, Missouri, and Johanna Lowe, head of marketing, communications, and engagement, University of Sydney, Australia, were runners up. Brenckman competed with an initial field of seven exceptional nominees, five of whom hailed from the United States, one from Australia, and one from United Kingdom.

“We are honored to recognize Shelly Brenckman’s outstanding marketing skills. She conceived the Startup Aggieland brand and produced extraordinary results while working as the sole full-time staff member, making her a standout in the competition,” said Bob Brock, EMG president.

Colleagues in education branding will be able to hear more from Brenckman, as EMG will honor her success with a series of interviews during the coming months.

More information on the 2015 International Brand Master and Startup Aggieland, can be found at http://emgonline.com/ibm-award/past-awards/2015-master/.

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SHELLY BRENCKMAN BACKGROUND
Shelly Brenckman wears many hats at Startup Aggieland as the facility’s only full-time employee since May 2013. Although her title at Startup Aggieland is marketing coordinator, she also serves as a mentor, event planner and office manager with some responsibility for managing student workers and representing Startup Aggieland at outside events. She helps Assistant Director Don Lewis with strategic planning, creating new programming and developing related course curriculum. In particular, her work focuses on donor development, sponsor and speaker recruitment, and recruitment of mentors and new student entrepreneurs. As marketing coordinator, Shelly is the webmaster and social media manager, as well as the mobile app manager. She creates all branding for Startup Aggieland and communicates the facility’s story both internally and externally through print, radio, social media and gorilla marketing. As a mentor, Shelly has advised nearly every student venture launching from Startup Aggieland and some that never became official clients. She also has advised former students and remote-learning students in other states. Shelly connects student startups with funding and board members by tapping her extensive network of alumni, administrators and CEOs. Shelly manages the 44-bed Dormcubator on campus, a residential program for freshmen and sophomores that is operated by Startup Aggieland as a Startup Living Learning Community. She teaches MGMT 289: Introduction to Entrepreneurship for Mays Business School, a multi-disciplinary course for Dormcubator students.

INTERNATIONAL BRAND MASTER AWARD BACKGROUND
The International Brand Master award was established in 2009 to bring recognition to the outstanding work of extraordinary educational brand marketing professionals from around the world. Since then, EMG received nominations from countries including Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, Netherlands, Australia, England, Canada, and the United States. This year, a blue-ribbon panel of volunteer international judges from the United States, Ireland, and England reviewed supporting materials provided by the nominees. Nominees were asked to provide responses to a number of questions related to their brand’s strategy, tactics, and provide results as well as provide several letters of support from colleagues. The judges narrowed the pool of seven nominees to three distinguished finalists. Two from the United States, Shelly Brenckman, Texas A&M University’s Startup Aggieland, and Katie Kempf, Ursuline Academy, and one from Australia, Johanna Lowe, University of Sydney. Votes to determine the winner among the three finalists were cast by brand stakeholders and fellow branding professionals from around the world. Over 120 individuals voted from around the world. The winner was chosen by a combination of public votes and the judges’ scores. For more information see: http://emgonline.com/ibm-award/.

This year’s judging panel included:

•     Elizabeth Allen: Director of Online Communications at the American School in London in London, United Kingdom
•     Jennifer Collins: Grants Administrator at SEAL Legacy Foundation in Virginia, United States
•     Eilis O’Brien: Director of Communication and Marketing at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland
•     Seth Odell: 2013 International Brand Master Winner and Vice President of Creative and Marketing Strategy at Helix Education in Utah, United States
•     Dr. David Peck: 2014 International Brand Master Winner and Vice President of University Relations at Azusa Pacific University in California, United States
•     Kay Zimmerman: Associate Vice Provost Marketing & Partnership Development and Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Academic Outreach & Entrepreneurship at North Carolina State University DELTA in North Carolina, United States
•     Travis Brock: Chair of the 2015 International Brand Master Award committee, and Director of Business Development and Social Media for Educational Marketing Group, Inc. in Colorado, United States (replacement judge)

ABOUT EMG
EMG is a full-service, integrated brand development and marketing agency that provides custom-tailored research, brand development, creative, development, new media services, and media services for universities throughout North America. Headquartered in Parker, Colorado, the company was established in 1997 and has operated in the higher education arena exclusively for 19 years. Clients have included Colorado Community College System, North Carolina State University, Washington State University, Virginia Tech, Cal Poly, Dalhousie University, University of Victoria, University of Colorado, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Wyoming, and many others. More information can be found at http://www.emgonline.com.

• written by Educational Marketing Group