Successful enrollment marketing requires translation of institutional brand for a prospective student audience, yet demands on admission offices mean there is little time for planning. Learn how vision and partnership with university marketing and communications allows the Fordham University enrollment team to translate institutional brand into a plan that works. This presentation was a session at the 2014 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education.

1. Making the Brand Meaningful
to Prospective Undergraduates:
A Content First Approach for Fordham University
mStoner
AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education
11 November 2014 (11:15 a.m.)
Presented by: Peter Stace, Jim Kempster, and Susan T. Evans

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

3. And now, a bit about
Fordham.

4. 4

5. • 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.

6. Without a strong
website…

7. What makes
Fordham stand out?

8. A way to think about brand:
Your brand is what you stand for in the
minds of the people you’re trying to reach,
influence, and move to action.
#AMAHigherEd

9. What do you do with that?
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.
#AMAHigherEd

10. It all starts
with
listening.

11. “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.”

12. “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.”

13. Translating the brand:
• Helps you attract best-fit students.
• Creates differentiation from the competition.
• Happens through content!
#AMAHigherEd

15. Marketing
without a
strong website?

17. 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).

18. 2014 Admissions Search Pieces

20. m
Which design gives you a positive
impression of Fordham University?
n=1050
62% 38%
Title Text
Keyword density analysis showed:
Users were able to remember more
details, internalize more messaging,
and more easily navigate the first
layout.

23. Undergraduate
Admission
landing page

24. Undergraduate Admission landing page

25. Choose Your Campus

26. Two campuses.
195
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.

27. 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.
84

28. An integrated approach.
Allow each format to do what it does best.

29. Micro content.
(and more authentic)

30. Evergreen content…
(and memorable)

31. Content feeds…
(the beast)

32. Visual content!
(and less text)

33. Social content?
(with #Fordham4Me)

34. #Fordham4Me
FordhamUniversity.tumblr.com

35. Reuse, repurpose, repackage.

36. Content is an
expression of brand.

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

39. 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