“Serious education. Serious value.” The University of Missouri–St. Louis wants to share that message and all that stands behind it. With limited resources to herald the brand, leveraging the talents and unifying the communications messages of the many marketers and communicators in various colleges, schools and units across the campus is essential, said UMSL’s Chief Marketing Officer Ron Gossen.
“To best do this, University Marketing and Communications developed the UMSL Marketers’ Forum, a communications network that features a quarterly workshop for campus marketers to share resources, learn best practices and generally leverage their skills to get the word out,” he said.
Between workshops, forum members share information on their own Facebook page and a dedicated blog-based website designed to offer new marketing and social media ideas.
The most recent forum was held in the J.C. Penney building on June 8 with more than 50 people in attendance. The packed room was filled with deans, faculty and staff. Forum members learned about UMSL’s most recent marketing and recruitment strategies, were updated on the university’s new website transition plan, learned about the UMSL Facebook Network and were briefed about modifications to UMSL Style, the university’s guidebook for logos, colors and grammar.
Andrew Griffin, associate director of recruitment, attended the forum and said that without students there is no university.
“Gossen and his team recognize that and the importance marketing plays in recruiting new students,” Griffin said. “I truly value the time and effort they put into planning and implementing these forums.”
The forum is supported by a steering committee composed of marketers and communicators from across campus.
Cary Goldwasser, director of marketing and sponsorships for the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, is a steering committee member. She said collaboration is one of the biggest positives of the Marketers’ Forum.
“This is a great opportunity to exchange best practices and learn from each other,” Goldwasser said. “Although we all have different areas of interest to promote, some tactics and strategies are always worth sharing.”
Linda Tracy, coordinator in University Marketing and Communications and a steering committee member, agrees.
“This is a wonderful way to get everyone on the same page about marketing,” Tracy said. “Each time we do this, we come away with more ideas.”
Other steering committee members include: Liz Shabani and Carie Myrick, Center for International Affairs; Sue Baber, College of Education; and Murry Velasco, Ryan Heinz, Jeri Peterson, and Sally Truong, marketing and communications.
More information:
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