UM-Flint University Relations

How many meetings have we all been in when someone talks about promoting an initiative, an event, a program, etc., and the first thing people usually talk about is print materials?  Website marketing is usually mentioned much farther down the list. In University Relations, we have flipped the paradigm.  Web is first.  Web is foremost. […]

Having recently returned from the 2010 eduWeb Conference in Chicago, I’m feeling energized! I was sure that I would come back with great ideas for search engine optimization (SEO) or tips for website redesign projects. And I did. There were great presentations about brand messaging online, SEO, social media, web development, and more. The biggest take-away […]

If you walk by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, you will notice the new furniture, and all of the people sitting on the new furniture.  The reason is simple:  August is the season for transfer students at UM-Flint. In celebration of the season of people transferring to the fastest-growing public university in the state, we […]

Last time we outlined the form and function of the homepage slider feature, shared some examples of the type of stories we aim to tell, and suggested some ways in which individuals and departments can assist in identifying and creatively gathering content for such stories. This time we will discuss the game plan for additional […]

If you are not measuring ROI, you may want to consider a marketing lifestyle makeover.

This month, UR spent a good deal of time and made a great deal of headway on our largest and most important ongoing project: the redesign of the UM-Flint website. For those faculty and staff members charged with maintaining their department’s website, the most eagerly anticipated aspect of the redesign process may well be the […]

The month of June finally included a winning bid for the UM-Flint :30 commercial through Google TV ads.  Previous attempts may have been too broad among television networks and programming.  Numerous bid options were tested, including variations in chosen networks, programming, times and bid levels. The decision was made to focus on eight networks with […]

It’s summertime and for the creative team that means working diligently on projects for the upcoming recruitment season for both undergraduate and graduate admissions. We have been working hard on designing a new look for our Graduate Admissions brochure series. This includes repackaging content and finding noteworthy talking points about each program. Using meaningful, thought-out […]

I did it again. In a meeting, I used an example from the 1980s to illustrate a point.  This time, it was the Talking Heads’ David Byrne who wore a really big suit in the video for the song, “Girlfriend is Better.” Blank stares from all the twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings in the room.  What is […]

One of the most important – and most difficult – tasks of any advertising, marketing, branding, or messaging effort is identifying and executing ways to communicate complex ideas as simply and immediately as possible. The tools and vehicles through which this is accomplished depend on the audience, and the best medium to reach that audience. […]