• by Larissa Faw , December 8, 2017

The academic open software partnership OLE(Open Library Environment) is appointing The Republik as its first-ever AOR to work on an entire brand refresh.  Previous work was handled by local agencies on a project basis.

The North Carolina-based agency's scope includes name development, brand positioning, messaging, website development, and public relations. Their first collaboration will debut in 2018 aimed at academic and research librarians worldwide.

The Republik will coordinate with multiple universities, inside and outside the U.S., which need to  approve the work. U.S. partner universities include Cornell, Duke, Lehigh, Texas A&M, University of Chicago and North Carolina State University, with additional partners based in London and in Europe.

OLEmanaging director Michael Winkler selected the agency based on its brand strategy expertise within the research and academic fields, in particular for LexisNexis, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina.

Originally launched in 2009, OLE moved into a new phase in mid-2016 to better reflect a next-generation library system that can be easily modified to suit the needs of different institutions. The non-profit is financially supported by the Mellon Foundation.