For What It's Worth.

Like most higher education institutions, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is facing some inevitable challenges as the demographics of students continue to shift away from the traditional 18- to 21-year-old that lives on campus. Declining high school graduation rates coupled with financial pressures and the abundance of flexible learning opportunities means more students than ever are selecting alternate educational pathways. Driven by a charge from the Chancellor to triple the number of nontraditional students in five years, we got to work.

Partnering closely with the Division of Continuing Studies and their communications team, we began to reposition their 15 segmented portfolios into a single cohesive brand supporting a lifelong journey of education, from pre-college, international, and summer term, to professional degrees, certificates, and noncredit courses. The university was also planning to launch its first online undergraduate degree, which folded nicely into this new wholistic educational platform. Through careful coordination with university communications and admissions, we developed a strategy to ladder back to the existing university-wide brand, which we had previously developed. With a team on the ground in Madison and one in Philadelphia, we built, focus group tested, and launched a new brand in less than three months.

To show why a UW-Madison degree is worth it, we turned the camera away from the university and onto the students and their families to speak for themselves. The stories were enough to make anyone realize that no matter how hard going to school would be, at UW-Madison it was worth it. Working closely with the internal team, we developed a digital strategy combining the previously disparate 30 or so websites into one in support of a truly lifelong learning student journey. While campaign landing pages are served to each audience, driving workflow automation and conversion behind the scenes, students are cohesively able to navigate the educational opportunities that best fit their needs through a true one-stop educational platform. With a robust print calendar already in place, we looked for the right places to integrate real student stories and let their testimonies do the heavy lifting from Madison to Tokyo.

It’s time to be honest. No pretense. No nonsense. It’s time to be human. To be real. Let’s talk about value and potential. Let’s start a dialogue about drive, fortitude and what it takes to succeed. And why we choose to pursue it in the first place. To answer, ‘what is this all worth?‘ It’s time to help, guide, and realize the potential in all. For what we can turn that ability into. For what is truly important to us. For what we can achieve, together. That’s what it’s worth.

Launching a new Online Undergraduate Degree option into an oversaturated space required messaging that would cut through the generic options and meet students right where they were—fixing dinner while paying bills, and finishing their third grader's science project. Every minute we spend is an investment in something. You can be sure that at UW it's an investment that is worth it.

Our messaging strategy was simple, meet students where they are—internally debating the value versus the investment. For many of them, this wasn't just their decision, this was something that would impact their family's nights, weekends, and holidays for several years. By not shying away from that conversation, prospective students became more open and trusting. This was the embodiment of the Wisconsin Ideal. A robust social strategy invited users to generate their own content and converse within each of their program areas. By encouraging that dialogue, the university is able to maintain the community that makes Badger nation so unique.

The best time to visit Madison is the summer? Asking for a friend. The reality is the majority of international students and transfer students beg in their experience at UW-Madison during the romantic summer months. This campaign is key to not just attracting traditional students to stay, but as a recruitment campaign for those students who have never visited. By translating the "What it's worth" campaign into something tangible for students willing to gamble on a summer it was an attractive bet.

After a few short months in market the new online undergraduate degree is a maximum capacity with plans to include 4-5 new online degrees this fall. The Professional Degrees and Certificates program also continues to grow with plans to add a dozen new opportunities within the year.