the Pebble Spring 2017

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Color Kerfuffle MPH’s new marketing colors receive mixed reactions among school community members tied to the red and white. By Jeongyoon Han Photos by Dan Mezzalingua When the Parents’ Association was creating prototypes for new Campus Shop merchandise, a volunteer asked Head of Upper School John Stegeman if he wanted anything. He requested a customized Manlius Pebble Hill vest. Stegeman wore his vest the first day back from December break, surprising students who passed him in the halls. It featured a Pantone bright green, dark green and turquoise inscription of “MPH” in the upper left corner, a complete departure from the iconic Farmhouse logo and the school’s red-andwhite colors. This became the debut of MPH’s new green-themed logo. Many, including senior and lifer Lilly Maresco, were confused and shocked because in the past, they had seen only red and white represent the school. “It was confusing to see a new logo, I guess, for the first time,” Maresco said. Stegeman explained later that day during Upper School assembly that the logo and colors were part of a new marketing campaign launched by MPH and partner Crane MetaMarketing in an effort to emphasize MPH as a place of intellectually driven students and a thriving community. Red and white, however, would remain the school’s athletic colors. Given the school’s financial crisis during the 2014-15 school year and the subsequent drop in enrollment, the administration felt the school needed rebranding. While assessing how MPH could best attract prospective families, Crane determined that the red in MPH’s beloved red and white is uninviting: think red as in a stop sign. In addition, Crane experts told the seven-member MPH administrative staff overseeing the campaign that the Farmhouse logo painted MPH as an overly traditional institution when in reality it’s a place for organic and dynamic learning. “We’re so many things, and [Crane] wanted to make sure that when people drove down the road and saw our billboard, or they went on syracuse.com and saw our ad, or they got a promotional piece in the mail, that we stood out,” said Jennifer Neuner, MPH’s director of events and communications. “They wanted us to appear as something different, which we already know we [are]. We needed to articulate that to the broader community, and they didn’t feel we could do that with the old material we had.” Yet the reaction within the MPH community is mixed. Some like the aesthetic of the new logo and feel that it signifies a new chapter for MPH, especially with enrollment already beginning to increase. Others are confused by the school having both the red and white and the greens and blue. Those who disapprove of the new colors feel that they have no correlation with the MPH identity, which is closely intertwined with the red and white. Adding to the confusion, students and faculty noted, was ineffective communication from the administration, which created a sense of disconnect between community members and the decision makers. The administration and Crane agreed that the new colors and logo would, as Crane program manager Christina Albetta said, 24
“convey a sense of possibility and growth” at MPH. “The shades of green and blue represent possibility, opportunity (the sky’s the limit!), energy, life and development—as in the spring, green signifying growth,” Albetta said in an email. Arriving at these colors and building the marketing campaign was a delicate process. When Crane first pitched the green-themed color scheme in June following months of on-site interviews with 17 different focus groups, the administration members were taken aback. “There wasn’t one single person in the room at this presentation that didn’t fidget a little bit when they saw those colors,” Neuner said. “It is uncomfortable. It’s a hard thing to grasp.” But ultimately, these same people became sold on the idea that change was necessary to represent MPH as a school moving forward. “I wouldn’t have accepted the color change had [Crane] not been so persuasive,” Head of School Jim Dunaway said. Stegeman said he was aware that the new colors would represent a break in tradition, and as such, some people might not like it. But he views the campaign as a necessary departure from MPH’s recent troubles. “I think that sometimes breaks from tradition can be a really good thing,” he said. “Part of what this marketing campaign was intended to do was separate us from the financial turmoil of two years ago, and so if that’s what [we’re] trying to do, then that break is a good thing.” However, a considerable portion of the MPH community interviewed by the Pebble questions the school’s decision to introduce the new logo and colors, as well as the concept of having two sets of colors. The Pebble interviewed 24 community members, and of the 24, only four said they liked the addition of the new colors. In an online Google survey conducted by the Pebble, while 67 percent of 111 respondents (mostly students) said they understood the reasoning behind the new colors and logo, only 19 percent said they supported the decision to introduce them. Thirty percent said they supported it somewhat, but 43 percent said they did not. Some students, including senior Spencer Krywy, said the new colors highlight the disconnect between the decision makers and the student body. “I think they represent the new administration. I don’t think they represent the students,” Krywy said. “The administration is pushing a very different angle than how we feel.” Annie Weiss, senior and Student Council President, raises similar sentiments. “It’s almost like we have two different schools in some ways: one that we know MPH as, and the other that we’re trying to market MPH as,” said Weiss, who has been at MPH since third grade. “It kind of makes MPH less wholesome.” Long-term implications are also on students’ minds. Weiss said she’s concerned by how strong MPH’s identity and sense of community will be in the future. “In a couple of years, I worry [the red and white] could lose its meaning,” Weiss said. MPH and Crane agreed that it was time for rebranding. In 1970, when the Manlius School and the Pebble Hill School merged, MPH adopted the colors red (from Manlius’s red and black colors) and white (from the latter’s green and white). Since then, besides a 2012 marketing campaign with the theme “Uncommon to the Core,” the school hadn’t updated its look or logo since the early 2000s, when it wrapped “Manlius Pebble Hill: Think, Imagine, Learn, Grow” around the original Farmhouse logo. As a result, Neuner said, the external community viewed MPH as having an “oldschool” and “failing” vibe; with the crisis that almost closed the school, it was imperative to prove to the external community that MPH was thriving. That one of the Pebble Hill School’s colors was green, however, was not a source of inspiration for Crane as it sought the best colors to do this. The overlapping letters and three different colors in the logo, rather, is a nod toward the close relationship between MPH, the Pebble Hill School and the Manlius School. For English teacher and department spring 2017 | 25
Page 1 and 2: the Pebble Spring 2017 Color Kerfuf
Page 3 and 4: Manlius Pebble Hill School 5300 Jam
Page 5 and 6: By Gavin Cardamone Lockers within t
Page 7 and 8: Just Josh Josh Clardy brightens eac
Page 9 and 10: Q: What are your job responsibiliti
Page 11 and 12: selfie Food-court frenzy in China l
Page 13 and 14: interactive Spot the Difference Spo
Page 15 and 16: Throughout the fairly short history
Page 17 and 18: Baja-Style Fish Tacos Time: 30 - 45
Page 19 and 20: always gotten the most out of his p
Page 21 and 22: soccer and baseball and ran indoor
Page 23: “Passion + dedication + hard work
Page 27 and 28: parent and Campus Shop volunteer, s
Page 29 and 30: already know. “When the newspaper
Page 31 and 32: decide you’re a school with a tre
Page 33 and 34: and I enjoy every minute of it,”
Page 35 and 36: (color cont. from p.31) in terms of
Page 37 and 38: Drug-Dealers-Anonymous, Beyoncé
Page 39: Lounge Hard Photo by Sam Goldman in

the Pebble Spring 2017

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