Making the Brand Meaningful to Prospective Undergraduates:

A Content First Approach for Fordham University

mStonerAMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

11 November 2014 (11:15 a.m.)

Presented by: Peter Stace, Jim Kempster, and Susan T. Evans

A little about us and what we’ll talk about…

And now, a bit about Fordham.

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• Spirit: “Fordham’s spirit comes from the 470-year history of the

Jesuits. It’s the spirit of radical engagement—with profound ideas,

with communities around the world, with injustice, with beauty,

with the entirety of the human experience.”

• Scale: Between the Bronx and Lincoln Center campuses,

Fordham boasts nearly 15,000 students.

Without a strong website…

What makes Fordham stand out?

Your brand is what you stand for in the

minds of the people you’re trying to reach,

influence, and move to action.

A way to think about brand:

#AMAHigherEd

Brand strategy is the art and science of discovering,

understanding, articulating, and evolving your brand.

Making the brand relevant means translating the Fordham brand for prospective undergraduates.

What do you do with that?

#AMAHigherEd

It all starts with listening.

“There is a homogeneity of spirit

and acting towards each other

here; but not a homogeneity of

ideas. I’m still kind of taking it all in.”

“During my college search, I looked

at a school’s hashtags to see if it

was cool or not. I could get a feel

for Fordham using #hashtags.”

• Helps you attract best-fit students.

• Creates differentiation from the competition.

• Happens through content!

Translating the brand:

#AMAHigherEd

Marketing without a strong website?

The content and design goals:

A. Illustrate Fordham’s distinctive culture, value, and

contributions to society.

B. Coordinate digital properties with recently refreshed print

materials.

C. Update and elevate perception of Fordham’s academics.

D. Showcase location(s).

2014 Admissions Search Pieces

m

Title Text

Which design gives you a positive impression of Fordham University?

n=1050

62% 38%

Keyword density analysis showed:

Users were able to remember more details, internalize more messaging,

and more easily navigate the first layout.

Undergraduate Admission landing page

Undergraduate Admission landing page

Choose Your Campus

Two campuses.Fordham's Lincoln Center campus is located in midtown Manhattan, in one of the

nation's premier cultural destinations. Situated on eight landscaped, self-contained acres,

the campus is adjacent to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and a few blocks

from Central Park, Columbus Circle and the headquarters of major media corporations.

This is a bustling city campus, surrounded by taxis, street vendors and skyscrapers.

There is energy on the sidewalks. Professionals are arriving at the Time Warner Center in

the morning and crowds descend upon Lincoln Center for performances at night.

Fordham's Rose Hill campus is located in the Bronx, one of New York City's most diverse,

multifaceted boroughs. The campus is spread across 85 green, leafy acres, adjacent to

the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden. Rose Hill feels like the quintessential

college campus, with athletic fields, Gothic buildings and plenty of room to roam. Just

outside the campus gates is Arthur Avenue, the heart of the city's original Little Italy;

Fordham Plaza; and the Fordham Road station of the Metro-North commuter rail service,

a comfortable 20-minute ride to another New York City icon: Grand Central Terminal.

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You can get there from here.A subway to Wall Street. A stone’s throw from media

giants. Across town from the United Nations. Hand-in-hand

with Alvin Alley. Steps to Central Park. Blocks from

Broadway.

Green campus. Fordham’s athletics. Walsh Library. WFUV’s

studios. Yankee Stadium. The real Little Italy.

No matter which of Fordham’s two main campuses you

chose - Rose Hill in the Bronx, or Lincoln Center in

Manhattan - the same incredibly diverse New York City

experience will be there for the taking.

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An integrated approach.

Allow each format to do what it does best.

Micro content.(and more authentic)

Evergreen content… (and memorable)

Content feeds… (the beast)

Visual content! (and less text)

Social content? (with #Fordham4Me)

#Fordham4Me

FordhamUniversity.tumblr.com

Reuse, repurpose, repackage.

Content is an expression of brand.

#AMAhighered

Fordham University is leading with brand-based content. It works.

Thanks!

Peter Stace

Vice President for Enrollment Fordham University

stace@fordham.edu

Jim Kempster

Senior Director of Marketing and Communications

Fordham University

jkempster@fordham.edu

Susan T. Evans

Senior Director for Strategy mStoner

susan.evans@mstoner.com