Lipman Hearne Survey

Earlier this year, Yale SOM engaged the services of Lipman Hearne, a Chicago-based marketing firm with extensive experience working with universities and nonprofits, to help guide a branding and marketing strategy project for the School. The project kicked off in early December, with initial meetings with administrative department staffs. During that initial visit, the consultants also had the opportunity to observe the dynamics of an all-school meeting.

The Lipman Hearne team returned to campus in January to conduct student focus groups and one-on-one interviews with selected faculty. In subsequent weeks, the consultants conducted additional qualitative research through telephone interviews with faculty, alumni, and recruiters. On February 17, Dean Podolny and the senior staff met again with the Lipman Hearne team to review their findings to date and to provide input into the quantitative research phase of the project.

Beginning in March, Lipman Hearne fielded web-based surveys to Yale SOM alumni, and to current students and faculty. As a member of the Yale SOM alumni community, you should have received an e-mail invitation to take part in this survey during the week of March 13 (If you did not receive your invitation, please contact Pat St. Germain, Director of Alumni Relations for Yale SOM, at pat.stgermain@yale.edu or (203) 432-1279). In addition, the firm is conducting a telephone survey of prospective MBA applicants.

At the conclusion of the quantitative research phase of the project, we expect Lipman Hearne to begin developing their recommendations for our future marketing, branding, and positioning efforts. So far, the project is on track and on schedule, and we are expecting Lipman Hearne’s final report by mid- to late summer. We will provide updates about this important project in future issues of the Yale SOM Alumni Newsletter.