7-6-98

Contacts:
Murray Blackwelder, External Affairs, (515) 294-7730
Carole Custer, Marketing, (515) 294-3134
Steve Sullivan, News Service, (515) 294-3720

ISU'S CUSTER NAMED DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY MARKETING

AMES, Iowa -- Carole A. Custer, associate director of university relations/marketing, has been named director for university marketing at Iowa State University. The appointment is effective immediately.

"This action is intended to invigorate our commitment to Iowa State's marketing efforts, while also re-emphasizing their importance to the entire university community," said Murray Blackwelder, vice president for external affairs. "We have a director of university marketing because coordinated, well- strategized marketing is vital to the continued success of Iowa State as it strives to become the best land-grant university in the nation."

The appointment also mean a reorganization of External Affairs resulting in the director of university marketing reporting directly to the vice president for external affairs.

"This move further emphasizes the university's marketing efforts and will result in funding reallocations to increase funding for marketing programs," said Blackwelder.

As director of university marketing, Custer is responsible for coordinating the university's overall marketing efforts. She joined Iowa State ten years ago as a special assistant to the president for marketing.

"Carole Custer is a highly respected and saavy marketing professional and her commitment to Iowa State has already been proven time and time again," said Blackwelder. "She has been there from the beginning, when Iowa State was one of just a handful of universities that recognized the emerging importance of marketing to the future of higher education."

In the past decade at ISU, Custer has led efforts to educate the university community about the growing importance of marketing techniques and concepts; coordinated individual research projects to help better understand the public's perceptions and awareness of Iowa State; helped develop new visual identity programs for the university and the athletic department; and helped develop a seven-year university positioning campaign called "It Works" and a new positioning campaign called "Becoming the Best."

Iowa State's marketing materials have earned numerous regional and national awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Higher Education.

Custer is a frequent speaker on image management and marketing issues facing service industries and non-profit organizations, and has presented several papers on university marketing to American Marketing Association symposiums.

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Revised 7/6/98