Work Samples Prepared for:

Situation

The University of Arizona is the state’s flagship university. As a double-designee land- and space-grant institution, an AAU member, a Carnegie R1 research powerhouse, and a designated a Hispanic-serving institution, home to not one but two medical schools, the university is instrumental to the state and holds unique influence across the county and around the globe. But for all those accolades, what UArizona didn’t have was a cohesive story.

Identifying and celebrating a common ethos across its vast enterprise became an essential and urgent task—prodded by a too-noisy neighbor, and prioritized so that the institution’s reputation could be cemented in advance of a major comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Solution

When 160over90 entered the picture in early 2019, we started with one big question: What’s behind the ‘A’ in Arizona?

We fielded a Brand Perception Study to uncover general awareness levels and the school’s perceived reputation, as well as consideration among parents and prospective students in Arizona, Texas, and California. We employed an online survey with perceptual maps to test messaging perception, max diff to identify messages with the strongest impact, as well as ad recall for UArizona creative. At the same time, in anticipation of the upcoming fundraising campaign, UArizona Alumni commissioned 160over90 to conduct a segmentation study on alumni affinity and giving. Using data from donor files and a global survey of more than 2,000 alumni, we developed a model to group Wildcat grads based on propensity to give in the future.

This research, coupled with qualitative Discovery insights, led us to this: as the state’s first university, founded in 1885, The University of Arizona has long been in the discovery business. We’re talking world discovery, from space astronomy and optical engineering, to water scarcity and climate change, to the opioid crisis and immigration. And also self-discovery.

For certain, the desert of Tucson is a wellspring of imagination. But even more than the surrounding environment, we found that innate wonder lies at the heart of each and every Wildcat. It’s wonder that drives them to do the unknown, the unimaginable, and the unprecedented. And it’s a beautiful tension between heads-up wondering and heads-down doing that ultimately makes them who they are.

To share just how “Wonder Makes Us” at Arizona, we captured the stories of three incredible individuals who emulate wonder to the core: Phil Evans, an international wheelchair basketball player and student; Marcia Rieke, Astronomy Professor and Principal Investigator for the NIRCam on NASA’s James Webb Telescope; and Sama Alshaibi, multi-media artist and Professor of Photography. These stories—sometimes standalone, sometimes interwoven as part of a larger Wonder narrative—have been mobilized in a 360-degree campaign including out-of-home, custom content, TV, OTV, programmatic digital, and social, and are now live in Tucson, Phoenix, and key out-of-state markets like California and Texas.

Most recently, 160over90 has begun to flex the “Wonder Makes Us” institutional brand to a quiet-stage fundraising campaign brand, “Fuel Wonder.”

Results

While the fundraising campaign has yet to launch, the institutional brand has yielded tremendous results in terms of peer/national awareness and admissions.

Prospective Student Awareness/Perception:
• 134 million impressions
• 7% increase in unaided awareness among AZ teens
• +15% increase in association with “gives students a head start in their career” among CA and TX parents
• +17% increase in association with “excellent academics” among CA and TX parents
• +8% increase in likelihood recommend among TX parents

Lead Generation:
• 0.36% CTR (33% above benchmark)
• 5 million video completions
• 265,000 landing page sessions (Oct-Dec)
• +79% increase in .edu in target markets
• Visitation increase in opportunity markets: TX (+17,000) and CA (+12,000)
• Record number of first-year apps for Fall 2020 (5.4% increase from the previous year)
• Enrolled most diverse class in history (48%) in Fall 2020

Rankings:
• In 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings, jumped into the Top 100 universities for the first time
• Ranked #40 among Top Public Schools

Situation

In a sea of higher education sameness, The New School (“TNS”) is a truly unique and progressive university. Composed of five Schools and Colleges—including the internationally renowned Parsons School of Design—the university offers talented and intellectually curious students the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines and learn new ways of creative problem solving to effect positive change in the world. But while TNS students, faculty, and alumni are as accomplished as those at the most prestigious design schools, music schools, and liberal arts colleges (as well as research universities) in the country, TNS does not experience the top of mind awareness of brands like FIT, Juilliard, Bard and NYU. The New School was looking for an agency partner to help build awareness and attract the best design thinkers of their generation.

Solution

160over90 created a highly engaging content and media campaign focused on the idea of “New Paths”. Featuring video testimonials by 17 current students from across schools and colleges enhanced with contemporary thematic motion graphics, we distributed the campaign across highly targeted digital and social media channels that targeted not just geo-demographics, but also attitudinal mindsets. The media plan included Instagram, Facebook, YouTube in addition to programmatic advertising and geofencing. With research indicating these intellectually curious students are sophisticates and avid consumers of news, fashion, politics, art and pop-culture, we forged branded content partnerships with The New York Times T-Brand Studio, Teen Vogue and Uproxx. In order to raise awareness among parents, we partnered with TIME Magazine to create a custom 4 page-cover gatefold.  To receive inbound inquiry and foster lead generation, we created a custom digital landing page that featured longer form video content, an interactive map of The New School, links to social channels and the ability to Contact, Schedule A Visit and/or Apply

Results

During our partnership, The New School has achieved the following results:

• Ongoing Brand Awareness & Perception Tracking Study results indicate that The New School experienced significant percentage increases in the key “Familiarity” indicator among Prospects and Parents between 2015 and 2017.
• The same study shows The New School has improved in the important desired brand attributes: “Innovative”, “Interesting”, “Prestigious” and “Strong Faculty”.
• While The New School does not publicly disclose admissions data prior to NCES publication, the university continues to experience increases in both quality and quality of applications.
• The New School recently renewed the agency relationship and planning is currently underway for 2019-2020.

• 140MM Impressions

• 10.9MM Completed Video Views

• 39.2% Video Completion Rate

• 97.8K Web Sessions

• 190K Clicks

• 219 RFI Form Submissions

• 70.7K Social Engagements

Marketing Objectives

• Create a brand narrative that would secure the support of UW-Madison’s 400,000 alumni
• Double down on a campaign that highlights the success that lies ahead by exploring the long history of the ways UW-Madison and Wisconsin achieved success in the past

Media Objectives

• Build on the momentum created from the UWM Foundation campaign, and change the overall in-state perception of the University
• Increase the overall awareness and encourage reinvestment in UWM
• Create a ground-swell of support amongst voters that will ultimately force
  legislators to take action regarding the state’s overall budget allocation for UWM

Media Strategies

• Develop a campaign that includes a variety of tactics to ensure the target audience is surrounded by the UWM brand message throughout the plan
• Given the broadness of the target, examine media consumption habits closely and align media selection based on research data
• Select media outlets that deliver the broadest coverage given the large target audience
• Investigate “high profile” type media outlets/placements in order to cut through the clutter and standout
• Flight partners and tactics to ensure a consistent presence throughout the campaign and heavy-up during traditional legislative budget discussions

Channel Mix

1. Online Radio—Reach Wisconsin voters on the top online audio streaming site. Target by demo and geography and find users in a non-cluttered environment. Use audio to drive action—companion and leave-behind banners provide the opportunity to visit website immediately if desired on mobile and desktop.
2. Targeted & Local Print—Local print provides an ideal vehicle to reach the older portion of the target who are not as digitally savvy with the latest technology devices. Targeted print offers the opportunity to speak directly to the Wisconsin business community.
3. High Impact Display—Utilize a mix of highly customizable rich media, interactive units meant to drive awareness, engagement, and site traffic. Built to run cross-screen on all devices with 100% share of voice.
4. Paid Social—Use click to website image ads and video ads to generate interest within targets. Once posts have gained momentum, we will incorporate a retargeting effort to build on the story and drive action from the audience.
5. Paid Search—Reach an engaged audience as users actively search for relevant terms. Drive clicks to the website as well as collecting audience insights and building re-marketing lists. Run across standard Google search results.

Results

With three months of the plan complete, the campaign has:

• Served 6.5MM impressions delivering 28,321 clicks for a CTR of .43%
• The campaign has delivered over 20K sessions to the webpage, with 92% of those  sessions coming directly from the campaign
• Heavy social presence has delivered nearly 20K engagements
• The launch of the University’s comprehensive campaign, titled All Ways Forward, has already hit nearly half of its $3 billion goal since its launch.
• The University ranking in U.S. News & World Report jumped up six places in 2016.

Situation

In 2018, CU Boulder sought to engage a proven outside media agency, experienced in higher education, to provide annual media buying strategy, consulting, and support within the context of an integrated paid, earned, owned and social media content model. With the existing brand platform of ‘Be Boulder.’, the institution was in search of a partner who could promote the CU Boulder story, improve reputation, and increase undergraduate and graduate leads, applicants, and confirmed students.

Solution

160over90 partnered with CU Boulder to reach prospective students through strategically targeted digital media to generate awareness to improve reputation. Our campaigns targeted prospective undergraduate and graduate students, early high school prospects, decision makers, alumni, and the larger CU Boulder community.  Based on our findings from Discovery, our media team developed a comprehensive strategy to support a multitude of campaigns:

• Sphere of Influence (awareness) – Execute out of the box media strategies and custom executions to increase buzz around the university and boost reputation across all audiences.
• Urge to Apply (enrollment) – Educate prospective students and their parents through strategically targeted digital media and encourage action through relevant content and placements.
• Urge to Confirm (yield) – Target admitted students and provide support through various messaging highlighting CU Boulder pride points in order to support conversion.

We executed and trafficked traditional and non-traditional digital media placements across paid search, digital display (standard, high impact), paid social media (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin), online video, custom content, and podcast audio that supported each respective campaign KPIs across 29 DMAs. The success of our partnership enabled 160over90 to plan and execute additional media campaigns aided by specific schools, such as the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program, Leeds School of Business, and College of Music, among others.

Results

Our “Be Boulder.” media campaign yielded the following results:

• 87.6M impressions targeting prospective students and early high school prospects
• 850K clicks and 2.1M video completions achieved
• 470K sessions over the duration of our campaign and 464 completed deposit payment
  submissions attributed to media

Our targeted graduate education efforts resulted in:

• 37.7M impressions delivered, 143K clicks achieved
• 250 generated leads attributed to media

Situation

Texas A&M University and the Aggies are a fearless front. A community standing side by side in solidarity. Steeped in history, tradition, service, and reverence, yet compelled to discover the unknown and solve for the grand global challenges of our time.

In 2015, Texas A&M was readying to launch one of the boldest comprehensive campaigns in the history of public higher education. At $4 billion, it would break precedent as the largest ever in the state of Texas, rivaled only by the nation’s most elite public universities. But while fundraising stakes were high, reports confirmed that recognition of Texas A&M’s academics and research was comparatively low.

Solution

With just six months to the public launch of the fundraising campaign, 160over90 partnered with the division of Marketing & Communications, the Office of the President, and campaign stakeholders on an aggressive branding and communications campaign designed to concurrently raise funds and raise national reputation.

We developed a singular, cohesive brand voice for the institution, centered on the idea of fearlessness. For more than 140 years, fueled by its land, sea, and space-grant heritage, Texas A&M has been fearlessly transforming lives and charting change. And we brought the fearless brand platform to life through a combination of large-scale advertisements, earned media, innovative digital touchpoints, and experiential marketing.

On the fundraising front—to match the big, bold, very ambitious nature of the $4 billion goal—we produced a highly memorable three-day campaign launch event complete with a presidential press conference; high-end donor event with celebrity entertainers Earth, Wind & Fire; and record-setting card stunt. The launch moment demonstrated how Texas A&M is leaving an indelible mark on the world, beginning in the great state of Texas. And earned media perpetuated a story of investment and impact.

From there, we strategically broadened our reach. We launched a DC Metro Station Domination, earning an audience with Aggies on the Hill, commuters coming in and out of the capital, and key research funders. We supported Texas A&M as they took an international stage at SXSW’s Interactive Week, showcasing the University’s position as a tier-one research institution and global change-maker with panel discussions and virtual reality experiences. We supported the university in a public relations campaign, telling stories of groundbreaking research studies, campus improvements, and grandiose community service events. And we produced a ‘viral’ anthem video that authentically captures the institutional ethos of Texas A&M—to live lives of meaning and impact.

All along the way, to humanize the institutional narrative, we carved out a powerful, individual share of voice for President Michael K. Young, which served to strengthen internal communications; to facilitate fundraising and donor outreach in support of the campaign; and to elevate mainstream recognition of the University’s academic and research excellence.

To start, we completed a comprehensive platform development exercise, honing in on presidential passion points that complemented the existing university brand narrative of “fearlessness” and served as an extension of the university’s mission. We developed an omni-channel communications strategy to inform content marketing opportunities and external storytelling. Over 1.5 years, we went on to plan, write, and design dozens of strategic communications pieces, establishing presidential touchpoints across all university publications and among prospective students, former students, faculty, staff, and donors. We ghost-wrote key campus addresses for the President. We launched a targeted media relations campaign on his behalf, with the dual goals of national reputation building and thought leadership positioning. This included editorial board sessions and media desksides, and coverage in Bloomberg, Reuters, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and more.

Finally, we developed an interactive timeline—a bold visual representation of defining moments across the University’s 140-year history, presented through the lens of President Young and timed to his 2016 state of the university address—to bring Texas A&M’s fearless mantra to life.

Results

In three years’ time, branding and communications efforts drew strong national attention, shifted the institutional narrative to academic strength, and raised billions of dollars. Reputational efforts secured more than 500 million earned media impressions, nearly 20 million anthem video views, and 17 million digital ad impressions, performing well above the national average click-through rate.

What’s more, Texas A&M has seen year-over-year enrollment growth and earned national recognition as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars. They jumped into the Top 25 Public University rankings. And in late 2020 the Aggies closed their comprehensive fundraising campaign, exceeding the goal and raising a record $4.25 billion.