Work Samples Prepared for:

Situation

Rich histories are the foundation of historically black colleges and universities; a source of incredible pride and a driver of shared purpose. But what makes an HBCU stand out today is providing answers for the present and insights for the future.

In 2021, under new University leadership, Alabama A&M University was looking forward to two major milestones: the launch of its first comprehensive fundraising campaign and the celebration of its sesquicentennial.

To articulate a storied excellence narrative and, most importantly, a clear vision for the future, Alabama A&M invited 160over90 to build an institutional brand platform and campaign brand that would concurrently raise funds and reputation.

Solution

Utilizing education to better the state of Black people is what Alabama A&M was founded on. With this in mind, we developed a brand strategy for Alabama A&M built on the idea that “exposure leads to ascendancy.” Exposure—to new narratives of who they are, new ideas of what they can become, new opportunities that embrace their greatness, new challenges that force them to grow together, new examples of success that break the mold—would point the university to new heights.

In that vein, we built a creative brand platform, “From the Hill,” that weaves a powerful narrative of seeing and being seen, reaching not only for but past the sky, and moving mountains.

At the same time we launched a PR & public storytelling campaign, intently focused on elevating storylines of Alabama A&M’s demonstrated investment in education for the socially and economically disadvantaged—rising to the challenges of this particular moment in history, and naturally building on the University’s core values and longstanding leadership in the space. 

In the absence of a defined storytelling culture, we mined for stories across the university ecosystem, meeting with leadership, trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and corporate partners. We unearthed incredible work—and equally incredible perspective—on timely issues like college access and affordability, Black student mobility, the ever-widening ethnicity gap in STEM fields, recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, and teaching cultural understanding in an increasingly complex world. And for the past year and a half, working intently with faculty experts, we’ve been taking those stories to both higher education trades and national mainstream press, staking claims of excellence and clearing a path to ascendancy

Results

Within the PR campaign, we’ve successfully positioned leadership and faculty experts on a national stage, drawing unprecedented levels of attention to Alabama A&M’s academic and research achievements. We’ve earned national media attention in TIME magazine, Bloomberg, and The Plug, and regularly contributed commentary to the Chronicle of Higher Education, University Business, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and Best Colleges. In 2024, coverage is forthcoming in ABC News, Forbes, and more.

SITUATION

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) has been at the forefront of HBCU athletics since its founding more than 50 years ago. Providing opportunity, access, and a competitive outlet for its member institutions and student-athletes is at the core of the conference’s mission. Within the ever-evolving collegiate athletics landscape and coming off the recent loss of three member institutions, the MEAC needed a new compelling and cohesive brand narrative and PR support to chart the next chapter of the conference’s storied legacy.

SOLUTION

As a collection of eight institutions (each unique in their own way), the MEAC is guided by common values. A belief in Scholarship, Community Service, Sportsmanship, and Citizenship—creating leaders in every graduate. Bringing these values to life, 160over90 developed a new creative platform centered on the idea of Step In, which pays homage to the MEAC’s greatest moments as a HBCU cultural staple and home for black excellence. Step In showcases the conference’s legacy and makes one point crystal clear: the MEAC is poised to promote its image nationally and is ready to show the world what it’s made of. In other words, the new brand platform invites fans to Step In to the MEAC experience.

Ultimately, the new brand platform developed by 160over90 brought to life the sentiment that through a competitive yet compassionate approach, the MEAC and its member institutions strive to turn raw talent into full potential—on and off the field. The brand launched with a new :30 PSA that aired during televised football broadcasts, as well as integration across social, digital, PR and event touchpoints.

To date, 160over90 has been deeply integrated with the MEAC across all facets of branding, PR, and content strategy. 160over90 managed strategic PR initiatives securing media coverage that touted the MEAC’s accomplishments across athletics, academics and its impact in culture.

160over90, in conjunction with WME Sports, facilitated a MEAC member institution campus tour with Cordae. The two-time Grammy award nominee (and Endeavor client) toured MEAC campuses visiting with students and holding early listening sessions for his upcoming album. WME Sports also helped source brand sponsors for the tour (Coke & Cxmmunity). Additionally, during the 2021 Football season, the MEAC launched the only FCS pre-game show: MEAC Countdown to Kickoff presented by Coca-Cola.

RESULTS

PR results included more than 75 story placements accounting for 665M+ earned media impressions including outlets like The Undefeated, Forbes, Front Office Sports, Sports Business Journal, Sports Illustrated, UPROXX and SiriusXM Radio

SITUATION

Historically, HBCUs have not been given the level of exposure and platforms as PWIs as it relates to both academics and athletics. Alongside WME client, Michael B. Jordan, Endeavor wanted to build an inaugural live celebration of HBCU culture, academic excellence, and athletics. Inviting HBCU communities of students, families, alumni, and prospective students to an in-person weekend showcase while also broadcasting our message nationally.

SOLUTION

160over90, Obsidianworks, and teams across Endeavor worked together to create a purpose-driven event at the intersection of sport, advocacy, education, and culture. Not just a basketball tournament, the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic became a cultural weekend advancing HBCUs through events such as a Career Summit, an eSports Tournament, a Startup Pitch Competition, and a musical performance by WME-client, Cordae. The host city, Michael B. Jordan’s hometown, Newark, NJ, was fueled with economic and educational opportunities – exposing high school students in the northeast to all that HBCUs have to offer.

The 160over90 and Obsidianworks team built the overarching brand strategy and oversaw marketing, creative, logo and brand development, digital content, ancillary programming, and social impact for the event.

RESULTS

The inaugural event garnered more than 1.5MM impressions on social media.

Situation

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School is distinctly advantaged. It traditionally sits right at or near the Top 20 rankings, but is less traditionally situated within a liberal arts institution. It’s relatively small in size, but well-resourced while residing in one of the nation’s most connected corporate markets. Still, the landscape is uber-competitive and rapidly changing. Business school models—and their marketing—have evolved more in the last decade than the 50 years prior, and coasting on prestige and programming is a thing of the past.

In 2015, with Erika James newly in place as Dean of Emory’s Goizueta Business School, 160over90 was tapped for a branding and marketing initiative originally intended to beat the competition and boost the MBA applicant pool, but ultimately equipped to reboot the category.

Solution

160over90 honed in on the intrinsic correlation between virtuous business practice and public benefit, a commitment uniquely carried out by Goizueta Business School. The school’s namesake, Roberto Goizueta—former chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola—is one of the most respected business leaders of the 20th century, famed for creating shareholder value but also for stewarding an organization that puts people first. And Dean James—an award-winning educator, diversity in business advocate, and crisis management researcher—has long espoused the power of principled leadership.

With this in mind, rather than simply react to the changing needs of prospective MBA students, we helped Goizueta and Dean James proactively answer the call of industry and focus attention on business’ true purpose: to enhance society at large, improving quality of life for all. We crafted a values-driven “Goizueta Beyond” marketing campaign that hit airwaves, online, and out-of-home, inviting future students and fellow business leaders to go beyond the profits, beyond the bottom line, and beyond a transactional business education.

In 2019, building on the “Goizueta Beyond” platform, we helped Goizueta commemorate two milestones: the school’s centennial anniversary, and the 25th anniversary of its naming in honor of Mr. Goizueta. Among key deliverables, we penned 100 business principles and 100 personal stories that embody empowerment, empathy, and the continual pursuit of better in business.

That same year, we developed and launched a thought leadership platform for Dean James, specially designed to channel individual passion points while advancing institutional priorities in front of key media, corporate partner, alumni, and donor audiences. We conducted extensive discovery sessions with the Dean and her leadership team; audited peer b-school deans to understand competing priorities and assess white space; and crafted a “Virtue Capitalism” platform for Dean James centered on the idea of leading a business school in service to business, ultimately in service to society. That platform came to life via an open letter to business, earned media in local and national outlets, an optimized social media presence, and a series of high-profile industry speaking engagements.

To close out the anniversary year, we concepted, wrote, designed, and produced a high-end impact report/coffee table book encapsulating all that Goizueta Business School stands for and has done in service of a better society—what we coined the “The Goizueta Effect.” This, along with an anniversary video, debuted at an exclusive private event we produced in honor of the late Roberto Goizueta.

Results

Our work and five-year partnership have yielded year-over-year growth in program interest, peer perception, and corporate partnerships/philanthropic support. Goizueta has seen a double-digit increase in leads across MBA programs, notably in entrepreneurship and social enterprise, as well as a marked increase in quality/fit of candidates.

And notably, the anniversary event, video, and impact book [in combination] were instrumental in securing the largest gift in Goizueta Business School history: $30 million from the Goizueta Foundation in December 2019.

While Dean James moved on to Wharton as of July 1, 2020, we’re confident the Goizueta brand positioning and the aptly named “Goizueta Effect” will continue well into the years ahead. And we’ve since partnered again with Dean James to articulate her strategic plan for Wharton.