MVNU kindles new era with “Shine Forth” brand

Returning to campus for classes this fall, many MVNU students were confused to find that “Life Changing” was no longer the mantra of their second home.

The University marketing department has revealed a new brand, “Shine Forth,” which is meant to shed fresh light on life at MVNU.

The brand was developed after a year of work with Mindpower, Inc., a full-service marketing agency that specializes in branding projects, mainly for universities and hospitals.

MVNU administrators and marketing personnel say the objective of the new brand is to reach out beyond campus.

While this has always been

part of the MVNU experience, the idea is now more intertwined into the brand of the school than it was in the past.

Emily Rogers, the University’s coordinator of communications and public relations, said the new brand reflects the “heart” of MVNU and embodies more than self.

The “Shine Forth” brand comes alongside the University motto, “To Seek to Learn is to Seek to Serve,” both of which embrace the commission of Christian faith to reflect Christ to the world daily.

The new brand also echoes the words of the school’s founding president, Steven Nease: “We seek to follow His flame which shines before us.”

The marketing department gathered input from faculty, staff, students and alumni in developing the new brand. Officials explained that the rebranding process is meant to bring a fresh perspective to the campus and revitalize the mission and vision the University aspires to achieve.

Most organizations complete a rebranding process every seven to eight years.

However, the new brand does not mean that MVNU sees its “Life Changing” brand as irrelevant or obsolete, Rogers said.

“MVNU will always be life changing for anyone who has gone here or will go here or has any context with the University,” Rogers said.

Social media trends are including both “Life Changing” and “Shine Forth,” she said.

Rogers said she has enjoyed tracking social media to see how people connected to MVNU are starting to identify with the new brand.

“It’s really neat to see how different people perceive it,” she said. For example, some people have posted pictures of light bulbs while others have taken pictures of their friends and commented “these people are helping me ‘Shine Forth.’ ”

“It is interesting to see how they are making it more personal for them,” Rogers said.