Work Samples Prepared for:
University of Missouri
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University of Missouri
Situation
As Missouri’s largest and most comprehensive university, the University of Missouri (“UM”) historically attracted approximately one-third of the state’s high school seniors each year and enrolled roughly 25,000 students. The student body includes populations of interna- tional, minority, and out-of-state students. But beginning in the fall of 2015, UM faced a series of events that garnered negative national attention and led to significantly decreased enrollment—and ongoing issues that have persisted over the past couple of years.
Solution
UM approached 160over90 to help boost positive perception and reimagine what it means to be a Tiger. We partnered with UM to launch a series of campaigns aimed specifically at increasing enrollment for Fall 2018, improving yield for Spring 2019, and enhancing overall sentiment. Our campaigns targeted prospective students, their families, and the general public.
Our engagement began with an in-depth Discovery & Research phase, conducted by our in-house Research team, to inform the strategy and creative development for the enrollment campaigns. Our team designed UM’s marketing plan (the first to ever be established and implemented for the university) and implemented paid media initiatives to support the creative that followed. 160over90 developed and executed a suite of materials spanning print, video, web, out-of-home, digital, and more—including bus wraps, billboards, paid search, social media ads, as well as short videos and emails addressing accepted students by name.
Results
We tracked results and metrics to measure campaign success. Following implementation of the university’s new marketing plan and campaign platform, UM achieved the following results within the first admissions cycle:
• 17% increase in applications
• 14% increase in enrollment
Ohio Northern University
Admissions Case Study
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Ohio Northern University
Situation
Historically, ONU never struggled to attract the best and brightest in the state. But being in one of the most highly concentrated higher education markets in the country, ONU’s in-state competition had created the perception that they had caught up, and in some cases, surpassed ONU, with incentives around cost or location. ONU tasked 160over90 with the development and implementation of a university-wide branding strategy, to better communicate a unified value proposition to combat this perception and increase awareness for the institution in Ohio and regionally.
Solution
Our Discovery process reinforced the notion that ONU has been focused on outcomes since 1871. Since its inception, ONU has been devoted to developing students who are ready to immerse themselves and go to the next level in everything they do. And while the world and the school have vastly evolved since their founding, the one thing that has remained unchanged is that ONU is rooted in the future. The resulting strategy, brand, website, and other materials capture the unique value that the ONU experience brings, and unify all five colleges, athletics, arts, development, and other strategic areas of the university.
Results
ONU tracked significant growth across admissions, web traffic, and social engagement.
Admissions
• 70% increase in undergraduate applications
• More than 100% increase in Pharma program enrollment • Dramatic increase in campus visits over previous year
New .edu Website Redesign
• 18% increase in homepage views
• First time visitors increased 7%
• Mobile users increased 28% (website is now responsive design) • Bounce rate decreased 10%
Social
• Reached goal of growing likes and engagement by 25%
• Facebook page likes reached 15,000, Instagram tracking above expectations
Jefferson
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Jefferson
Situation
In 2017, Philadelphia University (a fashion, architecture, and design based institution recognized for creative ingenuity) and Thomas Jefferson University (a world renowned medical college) came together to disrupt a stagnant education industry. 160over90 was tasked with introducing the world to a new institution—Jefferson.
Solution
For 160over90, the branding opportunity became greater than simply representing the sum of the parts of the two institution. Rather, the agency focused on defining the exponential value that sits within a new comprehensive university model design to deliver high-impact education. We began by reviewing existing data insights as well as conducting robust perception research and message testing across four main audiences (e.g., prospective undergraduate students, parents of prospective undergraduate students, school counselors, prospective graduate students). Our goal was to uncover data insights that would guide the strategy and creative to follow.
We developed work that brought the brand essence of the institution to life through innovative design. Integrated omni-channel efforts have included a full website redesign, digital travel piece, comprehensive campaign microsite, a suite of enrollment and admissions materials including a viewbook and acceptance packet, environmental graphics for key transit locations including subway stops, and a takeover of Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. as well as supporting print and digital materials. Additionally, 160over90 developed the Jefferson Rams athletics brand—including the new athletics logo, type, colors, and in-stadium graphics, environmental signage, and print collateral such as business cards or stationary.
Results
Following the launch of the new brand, Jefferson has achieved the following results:
• Ranked the #5 Most Innovative Regional University in 2019 by U.S. News & World Report
• Applications increased 25% (2017-2018)
University of Florida
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University of Florida
Situation
While the University of Florida is widely known as an athletic powerhouse, it’s also a national leader in academic excellence. Recently deemed the state’s “preeminent” institution, UF saw a need to refresh its brand narrative to raise awareness of its academic prowess in the state of Florida to legislators and peer institutions, and beyond. In doing so, the university aimed to propel itself to a top-ten ranking among public universities nationwide. In order to accomplish this goal, the institution, the foundation, and the athletics association realized the need for a cohesive brand across all units. UF approached 160over90 to develop a campus-wide umbrella brand narrative with the flexibility to work across a variety of units, audiences, and channels.
Solution
After an extensive Discovery process involving weeks of in-depth interviews on campus, we realized that through a spirit of collaboration and unrelenting work ethic, The Gator Nation is truly tackling and solving the world’s most complex problems. We developed a brand that espouses the motivation of The Gator Nation in a unified narrative: For the Gator Good.
The multi-faceted campaign launched with a series of TV spots allowing individuals to tell their own UF story. Across all media channels, the campaign reminds us that Gator aren’t driven by rankings or awards, but by a greater purpose. We launched UF’s first customized site for admitted students as a yield initiative centered on the idea of making every second as a student count. The site was viewed by almost 47,000 prospective students across 50 states and 100 countries in three days.
The Foundation also adopted the brand in their fundraising work, first with a video to honor $100 million donors, Judy and Al Warrington. The video was featured at an event awarding the year’s best volunteers and inspired attendees to donate an additional $3 million that evening.
UF Athletics built upon this idea of Gator Good, as UF student-athletes, athletics staff, and fans share a collective pride and perseverance, refusing to rest on the school’s athletic laurels. 160over90 created the “One Nation Indivisible” video which became the anthem for the UF Gator Nation and strengthened overall pride across all UF varsity athletics programs.
Our work for UF extended to the Warrington College of Business. Our team developed a Creative Concept showcasing a variety of digital banner ads and social media posts that work within the overarching UF brand platform.
Results
Our work has helped UF exceed their goal by moving to the #7 spot in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings for Top Public Universities —and achieve the following results across admissions, advancement, and athletics:
• 13% increase in undergraduate applications
• 5% increase in enrollment
• 4.5 average GPA—the highest in school history
• Largest pledge year in the history of the university
• $75M Warrington Gift—the largest in school history
• Raised $2.18 billion as of June 30, 2019
• Record $526 million fundraised in 2018-2019 fiscal year
• 17% alumni giving rate (among highest for all public universities)
• Secured reinvestment from the state legislature as Florida’s preeminent university
• 12,000 pledged service hours by students and faculty from the For the Gator Good campaign
• 90,000 students in attendance at a single football game—a record for the team
• 8% football recruiting ranking
• #6 men’s basketball recruiting ranking
• 20% increase in men’s basketball ticket sales
Rider University
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Rider University
Situation
Rider University is a private university located in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. The university boasts the resources of a comprehensive university and the personal attention of a liberal arts college, so Rider students are at the center of the learning and living community. With a commitment to high quality teaching, scholarship, and experiential opportunities, Rider’s students are anything but typical—and in order to communicate that, Rider needed a new brand narrative that highlights all the university truly has to offer.
Solution
At the onset of our relationship, Rider tasked 160over90 with conducting a thorough discovery and quantitative research process to better understand the brand ethos of the university. Our team met with key stakeholders across campus, administered a Brand Perception Study to understand ownable attributes and top-of-mind associations across key audiences (e.g., current and prospective students, parents, faculty/staff, alumni/donors, high school guidance counselors, etc.), and conducted an analysis to gauge the university’s shared, earned, owned, and paid media efforts.
From our research, we found that most people identified a strong sense of values, hands-on learning, family-like atmosphere, empathetic individuals, and community-service oriented as distinguishing feature unique to Rider. After our discovery and quantitative research efforts, we established a new brand narrative for Rider that encouraged exploration and finding your own way to succeed, as well as thriving together and knowing you don’t have to go it alone. In other words, Rider is Wild As One.
In order to drive awareness/recognition, enrollment, and alumni engagement, 160over90 worked with Rider to refresh its undergraduate viewbook, redesign a new .edu with improved usability and features, and provide Rider’s team with brand guidelines to help implement the new brand across all channels. We also ideated and implemented the university’s paid media strategy, which included a variety of outdoor and digital media placements that are aimed at helping Rider achieve its admissions and alumni engagement goals.
Results
In 2020, Rider was ranked #27 in Best Value School in the Northeast region by US News & World Report. Our media campaign efforts resulted in the following:
- The month-long campaign garnered over 56,968,000 impressions
- The campaign served more than 204,100 clicks and over 178,000 sessions
- CTR of .63% & Pageviews: 284,000
- Landing Page CTA Clicks (Undergraduate, Graduate, Transfer): 870
- Cost per click was extremely efficient coming in at an average of $2.27
- Users reaching the landing page had a .31% conversion rate.
New York University
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New York University
Situation
New York University is widely considered one of the most influential universities in the modern world. NYU defines what it means to be a global institution with three degree- granting campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai, as well as 11 academic centers on six continents. The issue is, every other leading university is also using language like global, access, or research impact. Despite the university’s impressive reputation, strong alumni network, and quality of diverse program offerings, NYU needed to distill these vast opportunities down to a simple and compelling brand message.
Solution
The strategy of Home to Earth’s Boldest taps into the ethos and dauntless spirit of the institution and embodies how an NYU student is someone who thrives outside of their comfort zone. We centered our story-telling around key areas including research, academics, global experience, affordability, and access, but share these through the differentiating lens of the key message. 160over90 unified admissions messaging for all three campuses and created one global NYU brand reaching students across the world. We revamped the campus visit experience for the Washington Square campus in New York City through a new admissions lobby, presentation, and other recruitment touchpoints for visiting students and their families.
Results
Since the launch of the new brand platform, NYU has achieved the following results:
• More than 75,000 first-year applicants (a 12% increase since 2016)
• Most applications received (more than any other private college/university in the U.S.)
• 26% increase in early-decision (round 1) applicants
• 22% increase in early-decision (round 2) applicants
• More than 100,000 admissions visits per year
University of Dayton
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University of Dayton
The University of Dayton in Ohio is a comprehensive Catholic, Marianist University—one of only three in the world. Communicating Marianist values is essential, but equally important at Dayton is a focus on affordability and accessibility; diversity and inclusion; excellence in teaching; and innovation, entrepreneurship, and research.
Recognizing that the oncoming demographic downshift among 17-year-olds would create increased competition for applicants, UD first partnered with 160over90 in 2007 to develop a brand that would stand out from competitors, break them out of a regional bubble, and increase reach on a national and international scale.
We launched qualitative and quantitative research—with Brothers and with guidance counselors, prospective students, and parents—to inform a bold new brand stance and reputation strategy. We came to learn that Marianists subscribe to the idea of a mutual quest for knowledge, and that students are receptive to that kind of shared educational journey. And so the resulting brand boldly declares: “We do not have all the answers. But we ask the big questions—questions that inspire and provoke. And we search for the answers together.”
In support of that messaging, and in service of raising reputation and attracting high-caliber applicants, the University of Dayton has allowed 160over90 to flex its creative muscles consistently over the years. We developed a new, vibrant, modern graphic language and leveraged new technologies to showcase it, including a first-ever iPad viewbook app and a custom, motion-sensitive video wall in the admissions lobby that encourages collaboration and community. We worked with a local artist to create a continually refreshed campus mural, reflecting the ambition and vision of incoming classes. As part of a student conversion strategy, we launched a bicycle program promising free bikes to 100 incoming freshmen for forgoing cars on campus, which helped protect the planet and pulled down national news headlines. We digitally captured and drove traffic to the Dayton China Institute: a novel study abroad and student exchange opportunity. And we’ve worked to promoted an innovative, no-fee, no-net-increase tuition plan, complete with a specially designed net price calculator, that has placed Dayton in the top ranks of transparency.
Results:
- 37% increase in inquiries; 36% increase in applications
- 50 point increase in average SAT score of incoming students
- Increase in diversity, out-of-state, and international students
- Regarded among Top 20 Catholic Schools in the nation
- Media attention from The New York Times, plus recognition by The One Show