Shelbie Harris
News Editor
Adrienne King will resign from her position as Idaho State University’s director of marketing and communications Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.
The resignation comes following her acceptance of the vice president of marketing and outreach position at Murray State University located in Kentucky.
“The position will oversee alumni relations, outreach activities, fundraising activities and then marketing and branding,” said King. “My first day on campus there will be Sept. 7, so I’m excited about the opportunity for new possibilities. It was a really good next career step for me.”
Although it’s the right next step in her professional career, King said the decision to leave ISU was one of the toughest career moves she’s ever made.
“I have absolutely loved my time at Idaho State University, this is a great school, and I’ve met some incredibly talented faculty and staff along the way,” said King.
“Our students are amazing. I have so enjoyed working with the students here, and I think this campus has incredible stories to tell.”
King served as the director of Marketing and Communications for ISU for more than 18 months before accepting her new positon at Murray State.
During her tenure, King worked to improve marketing and branding for the University and to solidify an image for ISU under the “Discover Opportunity” tagline, an image she wishes all current and future Bengals could be proud of.
“Adrienne is an outstanding professional,” said Kent Tingey, vice president for university advancement.
“She is extremely skilled and talented in the field of marketing and communications, and she’s developed the skills young, and I say that in a very positive way. The social media that is becoming so prevalent and so powerful, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, King is incredibly talented in those areas and has mastered marketing through these avenues.”
Implementing the University’s first ever integrated branding and marketing plan was King’s most rewarding milestone while at ISU.
To take a University with four campuses and over 250 academic programs and ensure the breadth of what ISU as an organization has to offer can be placed under a single brand umbrella that the campus of ISU has embraced with pride is something King said she feels a great sense of honor for herself and her team.
“Also, I think we’ve done it in record time,” said King. “I’ve done similar campaigns at other institutions that have taken three to four years to get the buy-in and support and I really think it speaks to the collaboration of folks on this campus and their willingness to work with others to get the job done.”
From the “Discover Opportunity” tagline, King and her team were able to harness limited resources to have a huge impact on the University’s image.
Following the “Discover Opportunity” brand came the “I Chose” campaign which implemented billboards across the state featuring advertising that is centralized and collaborative with admissions, the graduate school, different colleges and central marketing and communications.
King believes Murray State is roughly where ISU was a few years ago in regards to needing a central marketing plan that is created with the involvement of all other campus constituents.
“I think they’ve got a great story to tell, they’ve got a lot of momentum right now, a lot of campus construction and new programs,” said King. “They’ve got a real sense of excitement. They have a new president on campus, and a new strategic plan. It’s time now to build that marketing plan, and for me it just felt like the perfect challenge.”
King’s long-term vision includes moving into more of an advancement role within higher education and she said this career decision was the most logical one to make.
She did not expect to be making this leap as soon as she is, however the time has come for King and her husband to load up her Honda Civic with three cats and her canine companion to make the 27-hour trek across country.
“The joke is that they won’t be able to replace me with somebody with my shoe collection, but they will certainly be able to find someone,” King said. “ISU has hired a search firm and intends to conduct a national search in order to find the right candidate for the position.”
