With the new BYU Arts building under construction, BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications announced a rebranding of BYU Arts to BYU OnStage that took place on Aug. 14.
Along with the anticipation of their new arts building, BYU's College of Fine Arts and Communications hopes the rebranding will help differentiate their events from BYU Art entities. The new BYU OnStage website recently launched, and other replacement changes will continue to be made. BYU OnStage covers the music, the theater department, dance and Bravo series events.
"The name change from BYU Arts to BYU OnStage ushers in a new era for the College of Fine Arts and Communications," said Ed Adams, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, in the school's official announcement of the name change.
Rex Kocherhans, marketing services manager of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, wanted to provide context as to why they presented the rebrand to patrons. He explained the rebrand was a way to introduce a new chapter at the college, and they felt the new name would better align with the type of content the college provides.
Kocherhans explained there has needed to be some clarity about BYU Art compared to the BYU's Art department and the Museum of Art in the past.
Kocherhans stated they turned to the Marriott School of Business Marketing Lab for help with the rebrand.
According to the website, "The BYU marketing lab pairs top-tier MBA and undergraduate marketing students with world-class faculty that includes former insights and analytics agency executives."
Rex Kocherhans explained they went to the BYU Marketing Lab for various surveys that focused on how patrons and faculty felt about the name change and about different names.
"The new name of BYU OnStage was considered among several others in various departmental and community research surveys, and it was determined to be a preferred option — which was great news for us, as it happened to be our office's favorite choice as well," said Marin Barney, creative services manager at the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
The news of the rebrand has yet to reach everyone. Cailyn Brecht and Kirstyn Millner, both students in the music department, stated they had yet to hear about the change.
Barney explained the feedback the school has received.
"We've received great feedback so far, and hope our new brand continues to resonate with our community of campus colleagues, students and patrons," Barney said.
BYU's OnStage events can be located at online.