I was eating with a group of photographers, in a noisy crowded restaurant last week. The conversation turned to recent work and I mentioned Purdue and my recent trip to West Lafayette, IN. Across the table, Brad gave me a puzzled look.  “You seem pretty full of yourself about photographing chicken.” he said. Well needless to say now I was lost.

Everyone at the table roared with laughter at our exchange. Brad missed the “University” part of my remark and immediately thought Perdue poultry (We do live in Georgia, home of Chic-fil-a).

Can an institution’s branding fall prey to this sort confusion? Sure, a loud room and an incomplete conversation was enough to make it happen to me. Since our food hadn’t reached the table I’ll give Brad a pass. I’m sure he was hungry.

The moral of this story – make you college or university stand out from the crowd with a clear voice. – it’s a noisy room.