Brand

Case study: Marketing Communications plan for Purdue Life Sciences Initiative

In 2016, Purdue University announced it was investing more than $250 million in the life sciences over five years to advance research that improved lives and supported Indiana’s multi-billion-dollar life sciences sector.

The investment – which included $60 from Eli Lilly and Company in a sponsored research partnership with the university – would enable high-impact, leading faculty hires and dozens of new positions across six colleges, advanced instrumentation purchases and new shared research facilities.

The scope

Collectively, the Purdue Life Sciences Initiative would encompass six research institutes, including two new centers on neuroscience and infectious disease, which would complement existing centers for plant sciences, drug discovery, cancer research and healthcare engineering. The institutes were housed within various units at Purdue and had various reporting lines.

Working with senior leadership in Purdue Life Sciences, we conducted a SWOT analysis and audience assessment. Then we developed an integrated marketing communications plan to build awareness, promote team-building among the various institutes and increase the desirability of Purdue Life Sciences among faculty and graduate student recruits.

Branding alignment

Logos

Each institute had already developed its own logo. To comply with brand guidelines from Purdue Marketing Communications, we transitioned to cobrands that featured the Purdue logo alongside the institute name, along with a global cobrand that applied to the initiative itself.

Branding guide

Our branding guide included approved university colors and fonts, graphics, boilerplate language for each institute, proof points and key messages. Developed during an earlier iteration of the university brand, the first version included a heavy use of secondary colors from Purdue’s palette, including the life sciences signature teal. Newer versions reduced the color scheme to gold, black, gray and white.

Templates

We developed templates for each institute so that non-communications staff could create on-brand agendas, save-the-dates and presentation announcements.

When the internal life sciences newsletter first debuted, each section was devoted to a single research center, and readers could choose which sections to subscribe to, creating disparate narratives. To unify messaging, we reorganized the newsletter into topical areas such as announcements, events and research spotlights, in which we integrated reports from all six centers.

Website and social media

We created a centralized life sciences website that featured shared resources, funding opportunities, graduate school information, news, events and research spotlights on faculty members, while also linking to individual center websites that staff would continue to maintain. We also developed Facebook and Twitter accounts for Purdue Life Sciences, leveraging content to increase web traffic.

Strategies

Mass media

In early 2016, the Purdue Life Sciences Initiative held its first major scientific announcement. A Purdue-led team was the first in the world to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which revealed insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines. In conjunction with Purdue News Service, we held a press conference on campus to coincide with the publishing of a paper in the journal Science.

The announcement yielded worldwide coverage by major media outlets and global engagement on social media. As a follow-up to this announcement, News Service produced a YouTube video, and we created infographics in conjunction with the Purdue Department of Entomology on mosquito bite protection.

Events

After Purdue’s Hall for Discovery and Learning Research reopened, we worked with the life sciences team on an an open house, which yielded a standing-room-only crowd. Creative included a variable data mailing postcard for internal constituents, social media promotion, email marketing, signage, a printed program with annotated floor plans, and posters featuring faculty and research images.

Later, when the Society for Neuroscience held its annual meeting in Chicago, we collaborated on a reception in the T. Rex Room of the Field Museum, showcasing Purdue research. Creative for this event included a print and digital invitation, an event landing page, printed program, PowerPoint presentation and swag bags including dinosaur cookies and Purdue-branded chocolates. Our ADDY award-winning design featured an illustration of Sue the T. Rex with a highlight of her nervous system.

Life Sciences Week

To increase awareness and promote unity among life sciences staff, faculty and students, we held an annual Purdue Life Sciences Week with events for the university community and beyond. Our campaigns included digital and print fliers, email marketing messages, posters, newsletter articles, social media and videos. The most successful of these campaigns was a March Madness-themed week that featured researchers, students and staff wearing lab coats and playing basketball on the floor of Purdue’s storied Mackey Arena.

Corporate and academic engagement

Engagement events, including the Indianapolis Business Journal Power Breakfast life sciences series, conferences for the Biocrossroads coalition and meetings for Indiana CTSI, a collaboration of Purdue, Indiana University and Notre Dame University, allowed us to engage with the statewide life sciences community while showcasing Purdue researchers. As part of paid promotional packages, we produced print and digital ads, fact sheets, brochures and popup banners.

Communications and Engagement Working Group

As part of an operations plan for Purdue Life Sciences, we created a Communications and Engagement Working Group comprised of staff, administrators and scientists to provide ongoing marketing communications guidance. When the pandemic hit and a hiring freeze ensued, we coached and empowered two members of the team to assist with social media and website content creation.

This case study represents work done for an employer as part of a collaborative effort.