It’s an alma mater to tens of thousands, a major research hub, and one of Orange County’s biggest employers.
For Janice Hopkins, though, the University of California-Irvine is a brand on the rise with the potential to compete with the best in the class.
UCI’s director of marketing for strategic communications is coordinating a universitywide, multifaceted advertising campaign whose aim is to inspire the alumni and donor base and attract high-caliber faculty and students.
“I think we are clearly well known here in our own county, but we just don’t have the name recognition as UC-Berkeley or UCLA has,” Hopkins said. “Part of that is because we are a new university that’s grown considerably in the last 10 to 15 years.”
The effort is supported by an estimated $3 million annual marketing budget and follows UCI’s 50th anniversary, which set off preparations “for the next 50.”
“We want to grow the size of the campus, because the need in California is great—our population has doubled since 1980, and we’ve built one new campus, and that’s Merced,” Hopkins said.
UCI—which has about 31,500 students, employs 15,889 faculty and staff, and runs on a $2.6 billion budget—plans to add buildings and increase the number of students it can admit. It also hopes to bring in new federal grant monies by competing for more research-oriented faculty.
The school recently completed a “Shaping the Future” campaign, raising $1 billion from 113,000 donors over 10 years. A new fundraising effort is in the works, although it hasn’t released details.
The new marketing campaign is focused on “what the brand stands for and how UCI is different from even other UC-system universities and other universities as a whole,” said Sean Hardwick, partner and managing director at Skiver Advertising in Newport Beach.
TV Spots
The agency, which has been working with UCI for the past nine months, developed materials that highlight the central theme, “Shine Brighter,” including TV spots called “We Believe” and “See Differently.” The ads feature the university’s achievements in different areas of research, including sustainable energy, the state’s drought crisis, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The 30-second and two-minute spots—UCI’s TV advertising debut—aired last month on PBS, Discovery, CNN, and during Monday Night football games and Major League Baseball playoffs on ESPN.
More video ads to be released early next year are in the works.
“Spending more money on video is a big change for us,” Hopkins said, explaining that her strategy is taking into consideration that prospective students are visiting fewer schools and are relying on online searches to narrow their choices.
Skiver, whose roster of clients includes Electra Bikes in Encinitas, 5.11 Tactical and Pics Auditing, both in Irvine, and Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook in San Diego County, also developed digital ads that precede online content to “catch the cord-cutters,” Hardwick said, referring to consumers who don’t have cable TV subscriptions.
A UCI timeline highlighting the university’s growth over the years will be set up in February at John Wayne Airport and paired with ads in the baggage claim area. Print media placement that follows 1 million copies of a 50th anniversary magazine that appeared in the Business Journal, Orange County Register, and Los Angeles Times this past summer, is planned for the Chronicle of Higher Education, where potential hires could see the ads.
“We are to trying to establish our reputation as a great place for faculty to come in and do their work,” Hopkins said. “We are in there competing with the likes of Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Berkeley.”
UCLA, whose agency of record is 160over90 in Newport Beach, recently got a $100 million donation to help set up a private school on its campus for children of faculty members.
There are no such campaigns at UCI, though Orange County has great public schools, Hopkins said, adding that the University Hills subsidized faculty housing complex helps offset steep local rents.
Hopkins is also competing on other fronts. Her department’s annual marketing budget is well below what her competition sets aside for similar uses—UC Berkeley invested about $9 million for fundraising and marketing last year, while, according to New York-based Kantar Media, UCLA spent $2.4 million on ads in the first six months of the year. Meanwhile, Stanford University’s Office of Public Affairs projects its fiscal years 2015-16 expenses will add up to $11.9 million.
“We have to be conscious of our spending levels,” she said. “We are a public university, and we take that very seriously.”
Hopkins pointed out that, “We are only getting about 9% of [university] funding from the state now—people are shocked when they find out how little it is.” The rest comes from tuition fees and fundraising.
Gillman
Hopkins, a former head of marketing strategy at Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., said Chancellor Howard Gillman is “a big proponent of the UCI brand and what we are trying to develop. Gillman really sees the importance of this. He understands all the different audiences that we are trying to reach … and is supportive of our [campaign] budget.”
Various departments at UCI manage their own marketing dollars. The Paul Merage School of Business, for example, has $1 million allocated for marketing and recruitment, and University Extension and its Distance Learning Center have a $1.9 million budget.
Hopkins meets with all of them once a week to collaborate and ensure consistency of messaging.
“A strong brand lifts all boats.”
