Imagine having to summarize everything UH is working for — to both its community and those on the outside looking in — into one simple phrase that will inspire all marketing, advertising and donation campaigns. After months of research, that is exactly what the UH Marketing and Branding team has done in collaboration with brand agency 160over90.
A university’s brand is a cohesive theme or idea that identifies itself and its culture to students, faculty and staff members, as well as university outsiders. It’s the underlying theme in all UH marketing.
The brand refresh is the University’s first in five years. So much has changed with the campus, the administration and its national recognition that even in this short time, the refresh feels long overdue.
The brand agency, which has done work for Nike, the University of Notre Dame and Ferrari, began its discovery phase at UH almost a year ago. Their team toured the campus and talked to students, faculty and staff. They learned UH by the numbers and facts, but also got a feel for how the campus breathed.
Then, they developed a brand promise supported by the pillars that represent the UH community.
“The brand promise is an internal-facing message, kind of like a rallying cry for everyone in the UH community,” said 160over90 account executive Allison Isaacs. “You’d never see it on a billboard, or part of an ad campaign or in a brochure. But it should feel like it’s coming through in all the materials and products.”
The conclusion they came to that represents the diversity and educational opportunities, as well as the initiative-taking student body, is that UH is “a mecca for the driven.”
“This concept of ‘a mecca for the driven’ applies just as much to UH as to the city of Houston itself,” Isaacs said. “If you’re driven, you will succeed here.”
As a part of developing the brand, the team created prototypes or brand art of what an advertising or giving campaign might look like.
One slogan developed was “Houston is Houston.” While simple, the phrase is meant to make UH synonymous with the city of Houston. After all, six out of 10 alumni are living and working in Houston, according to 160over90 account supervisor Ryan Brown. Yet, unlike other city-named universities, like the University of Chicago, there’s a disconnect here.
“With Houston, there’s not really that connection (with UH) that’s so natural right now,” Isaacs said. “So this is an engine for us to start that process going for this campaign.”
Changing the way students refer to their school from UH to “Houston” is not the goal. The goal is to show how connected the city and its university are. And, in order to do that, 160over90 developed something that will speak to Houstonians.
“The folks here in the city of Houston, they’re driven, they’re smart, they’re no BS — they get to the point and they love facts,” said creative director Steve Dean. “So we’ve come up with a fact-based approach.”
In keeping with truth, a campaign idea for advancement, the “Groundbreakers” series, tells the stories of remarkable students or alumni who had to overcome hardships to gain success.
But both the advertising and annual-giving campaigns are short term. The real work and effort will be making sure the brand is present in all work.
“The brand is sort of the foundation. We’re building a little house here and then we’ll tear it down. We’ll build a new house and then we’ll tear it down,”said interim director of marketing Brandy Holmes. “The shorter campaigns will always have an ending and then we’ll start with a new message. But next year’s message will be on the same brand foundation.”
“We’re ‘a mecca for the driven,’ and that’s not going to change this year. It’s who we are — until we are ready to write the next chapter.”
