The University of Georgia’s Awareness and Reputation Campaign was designed to elevate UGA’s national academic standing by engaging other top-tier research universities. With a goal to differentiate themselves from an athletics-heavy brand perception, UGA leveraged brand perception research to identify areas where the institution stands out for their research advancements, economic impact, and the strength of academics. Our team, in alignment with UGA, pinpointed unique strengths and the groundbreaking work of faculty, researchers, and students to build the foundation of the campaign.
A two-pronged approach focused first on amplifying UGA’s impressive academic achievements and stats by building broad awareness of its leadership in research and education. The second prong highlighted individuals driving this success, telling authentic stories directly from faculty, scholars, and innovators to showcase the human impact behind the numbers.
This approach fostered awareness among the target audience and validated UGA’s leadership in key academic areas within the higher education landscape, supporting its goal to improve reputation and rankings while strengthening relationships with academic leaders across the country.
To bring the Awareness and Reputation Campaign to life, we began by identifying UGA’s key academic differentiators and translating them into compelling narratives that resonate with the target audience, as identified by peer research. Recognizing that peer reputation hinges on authentic, credible storytelling, we engaged UGA’s faculty and researchers to share their own experiences and insights directly.
While UGA boasts impressive funding and economic statistics, we chose to tell the deeper stories behind the numbers. Featuring UGA’s innovative programs, experiential and active learning leadership, and investment into economic drivers within the region, we crafted a unique visual style and authentic voice. The campaign’s tone is inspiring and credible, showcasing the dedication of faculty, students, and alumni who make a difference worldwide.
The campaign plan involved a proprietary mix of digital channels and select traditional media, an approach that combined programmatic display, paid and organic social, targeted email outreach, and out-of-home advertising. The creation of a dedicated microsite allowed for deeper engagement with full stories and supporting multimedia. To amplify reach and sustain attention, we launched a LinkedIn newsletter called “Bulldog Beat,” which gained more than 60,000 subscribers within the first four monthly issues, underscoring the appetite for academic content. The media mix was customized from a standard broad strokes approach of paid digital media, to a segmented and targeted audience, with messaging developed for individual subgroups and specific platforms. Tactics were tailored to match UGA’s participation in events and to follow the targeted audience to the platforms where engagement was highest.
Remarketing tactics kept UGA top of mind among key decision-makers at peer institutions. Meanwhile, print ads and direct emails to university leadership further reinforced the campaign’s academic prestige and credibility.
A unique challenge was breaking through the noise in a competitive higher education space while keeping the messaging authentic and grounded in UGA’s strengths. To overcome this, we carefully selected stories showcasing UGA’s commitment to experiential learning, job success after graduation, international program leadership, and flagship programs—such as the immersive language learning living spaces, distinguishing UGA as a leader in innovative education.
The campaign drove a significant, measurable impact toward UGA’s goals. Measuring solely growth among the target audience, website traffic increased 77% year-over-year, with users also up 78%. Pages per user increased by 6.5% YOY.
LinkedIn saw an 803% year-over-year surge in traffic, fueled by peer reputation content and high-profile posts from campus leadership, bringing forth the campaign messaging directly peer-to-peer.
Campaign content achieved 54,000 website sessions, demonstrating sustained interest through the campaign among academic peers. Geographic data showed that outreach effectively expanded UGA’s influence outside its traditional Southeastern base, with Virginia, California, and Washington leading in engagement.
These results reflect the campaign’s success in amplifying UGA’s academic reputation, building authentic connections with peer institutions, and supporting UGA’s rise in peer perception and national rankings.
