The Office of University Communications, in collaboration with the Graduate School, has officially launched a new University graduate education marketing campaign - Even Higher Education. Primarily a brand and awareness campaign, Even Higher Education is designed to raise the visibility of UNC Charlotte’s graduate offerings in the increasingly competitive Charlotte market. After several months of planning and development, the graduate campaign is under way and is scheduled to run throughout March and April.
“Outstanding faculty and students are actively engaged in graduate education and research to create knowledge, technologies and information to improve the quality of life in the Charlotte region,” said Thomas Reynolds, associate vice provost for graduate programs and dean of the Graduate School. “With over 700 graduate faculty, 5,000 graduate students and 100-plus programs of study, the campaign to brand graduate education is intended to help the rest of the world see what those of us at the University already know: graduate education is growing, thriving and helping to make the Charlotte region and indeed the world a better place.”
The campaign uses various individuals featured with the graduate programs including faculty, students, alumni and community leaders; it is a powerful combination of people that begin to illustrate the breadth and depth of graduate activities at UNC Charlotte.
Representatives from University communications and the Graduate School led the team that worked on this campaign, which included communicators and leadership representation from all seven of the University’s colleges. The programs highlighted in the campaign were chosen by the colleges and the Graduate School and are a cross section of master’s and doctoral programs offered. They represent not only long-standing graduate programs but also new and innovative initiatives.
“We are delighted that this campaign will highlight the work of our faculty but will also focus on the extraordinary mentoring and training they provide to our graduate students,” said Katherine Hall-Hertel, assistant dean of the Graduate School. “One of our goals is to build a strong community of graduate scholars – faculty and students alike – and this campaign helps to illustrate some of the many ways we work together.”
According to Richard McDevitt, director of marketing in the Office of University Communications, UNC Charlotte’s graduate education campaign is a vital step forward in increasing the University’s hometown brand as it is faced with the high profile and large budgets from out of town competitors, all aiming at obtaining local market share to enroll in their graduate schools – whether those be online or for-profit. The messaging of the campaign focuses on the quality, variety and “community connectivity” of UNC Charlotte Graduate Education. This new campaign advertises University programs and colleges, like the Belk College of Business that provides outstanding programs, taught in real classrooms by highly regarded faculty at two campuses; the college is consistently rated among the top schools nationwide.
“This campaign compliments the Belk College’s existing student recruitment efforts,” said Sasha Trosch, executive director of external relations for the Belk College of Business. “By spotlighting our talented faculty, successful alumni and strong community connections, we have the opportunity to inform the community about the incredible educational resources available at their hometown university.”
All advertising materials point to the website evenhighereducation.uncc.edu where more information is available. While brand awareness is the first step, the campaign team made a conscious effort to design the website to convert Web traffic into applicant traffic by providing a request for information, thereby connecting them to the intake process.
University communications encourages faculty and staff to take an active role in helping to disseminate the key messages of the graduate education campaign with the hope of helping UNC Charlotte to stake its claim as the premiere institution for both higher education and “Even Higher Education” in the Charlotte region.
Look for print advertising in the Charlotte Observer starting March 15, with other ads scheduled for March 17, 24, 29, 31 and April 7, 12, 14, 21 and 28. Charlotte Business Journal will carry print ads on March 22 and April 5 and 19, and WFAE will run 15-second spots through the end of April. Billboards with campaign materials will be displayed along I-85 near Brookshire Boulevard, on I-77 near Catawba Avenue and Remount Road, on I-277 near North Graham Street and along I-485 near Westinghouse Boulevard.