Brand Loyalty and Global Health

I have long been a fan of The Pump Handle, a self-described "water cooler for the public health crowd," with special expertise in mining and occupational safety. They also post on plenty of other public health topics, of course.

Many of the contributers have some tie to the George Washington University School of Public Health--although from the beginning that has seemed more incidental than anything else. They certainly do not act or blog like traditional institution boosters. And, in fact, lately, I have noticed that they are expanding their list of contributors well beyond Georgetown to academics at Boston and Tufts Universities, as well as a few well-chosen advocates and even one anonymous blogger.

I think that move to reach beyond institutional borders is particularly innovative--or should I say counter-cultural? Even if it seems like an obviously good idea, it does not happen that enough. Usually, the conventional wisdom is that in order to "get your message out," you need to focus on branding in general, and institutional branding in particular. Everyone is so worried about sharing credit that they don't realize how little credibility single-institution venues actually have.