in Action
Deborah Mersino, ISTE’s chief marketing officer,
talks about the organization’s new brand position.
Change is afoot at ISTE. It’s palpable and positive. Initiated by the board of
directors’ emphasis on brand positioning during the CEO recruitment process last year, ISTE has
dedicated itself for the past 12 months
to collaborative, high-level brand
positioning work. A board/staff retreat last September, together with
an ISTE Branding Task Force work
session in January, ignited critical
thought about ISTE’s past, current,
and future position and influence in
the field.
We’ve been carefully examining
what ISTE is all about, who we are,
and who we serve. We’ve looked at
our differentiators, market segmentation strategies, product and service
offerings, marketing and communications plans, membership base and influence, corporate relations strategies
and advocacy work, as well as ISTE’s
trajectory in the digital age of nonprofits and member-based organizations.
Born out of the task force work,
these new vision and mission statements were adopted by the board
in March:
Vision
The vision of ISTE is a world where all
learners thrive, achieve and contribute.
Mission
As the creator and steward of the
definitive education technology standards, ISTE’s mission is to empower
learners to flourish in a connected
world by cultivating a passionate professional learning community, linking
educators and partners, leveraging
knowledge and expertise, advocating
for strategic policies, and continually
improving learning and teaching.
We’re busy now translating our new
brand position into strategy and action. Our work is centered on infusing
the brand into all of our organizational planning, membership models and
benefits, product and service lines,
marketing and communications, external relations, and fiscal planning.
Throughout the upcoming year,
you will see evidence of this as we
work to further meet the needs of our
members and fulfill our mission. For
a while, you’ll see some dualities (old
brand living alongside new brand);
however, you can eventually look
forward to a new website, re-created
magazine, programs, communications
and product and service lines aligned
with our updated positioning.
