The Ask
Founded in 1785, the University of Georgia is the birthplace of public higher education in America. It’s also one of the best public institutions in the country, with the U.S. News and World Report ranking inside the top 20. However, its reputation as a football school was overshadowing UGA’s high-achieving students, research prowess and acclaimed faculty leaders. We set out to shift the spotlight to show a national audience that UGA is also an
academic powerhouse.
What We Did:
- Graphic Design
- Copywriting
- Programmatic Display Ads
- Print Ad
- Direct Mail
- Social
- Native
- Microsite
- Out of Home
Approach
To elevate UGA’s national academic reputation, we developed a two-pronged approach.
Prong one: Develop a reputation and awareness campaign focused on UGA’s most impressive stats and accomplishments. This effort helped raise visibility and reinforce UGA’s standing as a leading public university.
Prong two: Further define UGA as a university of academic leadership by showcasing UGA’s impressive faculty and thought leaders. Running during the summer and fall, this campaign highlighted the people behind the numbers. The stories were told by the professors, researchers, scholars and innovators themselves, which brought authenticity and authority to the campaign.
Tactics
We used a highly targeted approach that reached universities beyond UGA’s well-established Southeastern footprint. This included a range of digital efforts targeting the broader higher education landscape.
Creative
While UGA has some impressive stats, we decided to tell the stories behind the numbers. The most compelling centered on the successful efforts of UGA researchers, students and alumni. Their dedication to making a difference in the world inspired us to create a unique look and tone of voice to capture our audience’s attention.
Implementation
Chronicle of Higher Education Print Ads
A weekly publication, the Chronicle of Higher Education is required reading for university leaders. We ran several print ads highlighting the UGA faculty members and their stories of impact.
Digital Ads
Every month, three new stories of UGA’s accomplishments were targeted toward peer institutions.
Social Ads
The campaign also featured ads running on Meta platforms and LinkedIn.
Landing Page
We developed a website that served as the landing pages for all the assets. Here, we told the stories in full detail and gave the site itself a contemporary look.
