What Do We Mean by…?
What’s in a word? As it turns out, a lot of power to connect, or confuse. Deliberately assigning specific meanings to words helps us align terminology to support the introduction, adoption, and implementation of our division’s work over the next five years. We expect to add to this glossary through our ongoing work, and as we find language on our teams and projects helpful, we will continue to add terms.
Annual Plan
An explicit, written plan the division will produce each fiscal year, with specific input from each department. This plan will define specific goals, strategies, metrics, and outcomes we are committing ourselves to accomplish in the course of that 12-month period.
Brand Positioning
The definition of “where the brand should be ‘located’ conceptually in the hearts and minds of consumers relative to competitors; [it] sets the boundary and guide[s] the product that is actually created” (Whitler, 2021). Just as needs and offerings change, positioning is an ongoing process, not a single or static achievement. An effective brand positioning should elevate the University relative to other options in the competitive landscape – differentiating it against other universities regionally and nationally. Priorities and programs that stem from this positioning should align the unique offerings, capabilities, and strengths of the University with market demand, the interests of donors, and the needs of industry and the state we serve.
Business Case
The rationale, justification, and potential benefits of a particular initiative or project; typically includes an analysis of the market demand, financial projections, potential risks, and anticipated returns on investment. A business case can help university leadership make informed decisions about resource allocation and strategic priorities.
Content Strategy
The curation of content such that content developed and delivered consistently reinforces specific themes, ideas, or points of view that together create the desired positioning for the brand, drive engagement, and ensure relevance with the university's target audiences. Content strategy guides decisions about which stories are developed and told (always a mix) based on the desired effect; it’s upstream editing to achieve a specific and strategic mix.
Culture
collection of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that make up the routine atmosphere of employees in a working environment and their interactions with each other. Culture is agnostic to the goals of the organization – but can either support or work against the stated goals and commitments. Ideally, culture helps to create community and a sense of belonging and purpose that can align with the greater purpose of the work done by the organization.
Employer Brand
Employer branding is the practice of influencing how current employees, prospective employees, and the larger workforce perceive a company’s reputation as an employer. While branding in general targets the perception of consumers, employer branding specifically focuses on a company’s prospective hires and internal employees. As a result, it is focused on ways that build engagement, help retain high-performing employees, and attract top talent. At UO it also incorporates and builds on the idea of Flourishing, our commitment to a community invested in the wellbeing of all its members.
Digital Ecosystem
The interconnected network of channels, teams, resources, and technologies that interact and collaborate within a digital environment. It encompasses various components such as software, hardware, data, channels, and products. These elements work together to create value and support various activities, ranging from business operations and audience engagement to innovation and development of new products or services. For UO, this would incorporate our websites, YouTube presence, social media, search strategy, digital marketing, and others.
Framework
Our division’s guiding document that articulates the division’s purpose, goals, strategies, and behaviors over the next five years. Like in a house, it is the foundation and framing onto which we build and create our work.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Specific metrics that demonstrate how effectively we are achieving our strategic objectives and goals. These are set by the leadership team and may change or be removed or added between annual work plans.
“Mix Tape”
The idea of creating a core of curated, timely, and well-developed content (see content strategy definition) and from that core, creating products (see product definition) as “mix tapes” - combinations that speak to the interests and needs of different audiences. This allows a focus on core content first, then audience and product, allowing content to be used in multiple ways.
Operating System
The specific behaviors, patterns, business cycles, systems, and workflows that produce a specific result. An operating system is perfectly designed to produce the result that it produces: if we want to change our results, we must redesign the operating system to produce these new results.
Product(s)
A specific, usually recurring, communications and/or marketing deliverable unit or output that can be distributed to or received by an audience. We also use “product” to define licensed goods, but for the purpose of this glossary, this word means a specific communications invention designed for consumption. Examples: a podcast, a magazine, a newsletter, a blog, etc.
Purpose
The animating reason or reasons that any organization – and our division – exists.
RACI – Accountable
The person designated as the decision-maker for a project. Often this person has budget authority to approve the use of funds associated with the project, though that is not a requirement. Only one person can be designated as accountable; aka the owner.
RACI – Consulted
The person or group of people whose input is sought prior to major elements of a project beginning. Their feedback is critical to the success of the project, but they may not have a specific responsibility to contribute beyond feedback, context, or expertise.
RACI – Informed
The person or group of people who are informed of the project after it is complete or set to launch. They are not sought for feedback but providing them a heads-up is necessary. Those specified as informed of the project are not necessarily the final audience of the project.
RACI – Responsible
The person who does the work. There may be multiple people designated as responsible, but they must each be explicit about which parts of the project are assigned to their responsibility. In Wrike, this role may equate to being “Assigned” to a task or project.
Rugged Flexibility
To be flexible, endurable, and anti-fragile in the face of change. Since change is a constant, this quality is helpful as a principle. (Stulberg, B. 2023).
Share of Voice
The percentage of media “voice” or coverage relative to peers/competitors also seeking attention in the same markets. This is largely used for positive, reputational media (i.e. research, thought leadership, etc.)
“Value at the Center”
A focus on opportunities for the Division to add value to the organization centrally, in ways that can scale to all units. This can include enterprise solutions, tools, resources or tools, or products that elevate the work of the whole university, that units can adopt while staying true to the brand. Value can result in increased cohesion and efficiency, reduced cost, greater alignment, or easier and more collaborative processes.