Dear Colleagues:

Since joining the University of Washington in April as Associate Director of Brand & Creative on the University Marketing team, I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with many of you. Thank you for the warm welcome and introduction to the UW. And for those of you I haven't had a chance to collaborate with yet, I hope to meet you soon.

As our 150th anniversary celebrations draw to a close, we are beginning to formally transition out of our 150th campaign and return to the foundations of our brand. This means that throughout our web properties we are returning to the block W in place of the 150th mark. We aim to complete this transition by the end of August. Ideally we would like to have all the 150th messaging and brand graphics phased out across the University before the first day of instruction on September 24.

Replacement graphics and branded elements are now available. For those who use the UW header/footer wizard for your webpages, the Block W version is available. To update your webpage, please go through the steps on the header/footer wizard and select the Block W version.

If your email signature includes the 150th mark, the brand version is now available. Directions for updating your signature are posted on the University Marketing website.

Assets are also available in the University Logo Art Pack, located on the University Marketing site under University Brand in the upper-right corner. And of course, please feel free to reach out to me directly at any time with questions.

In the coming months, we are looking forward to rolling out new enhancements that we hope will refresh the brand as we go beyond the UW's first 150 years and look to the future. In the meantime, our brand guidelines are available on the University Marketing site for your reference.

Again, I look forward to the opportunity to work with all of you.

Best,

Gerald McRobbie
Associate Director, Brand & Creative
University Marketing

Best Practices

Featured Unit: UW Alumni Association

The challenge: The UW Alumni Association wanted to augment existing communications to its 53,000 members by delivering distinct messages that would capture members’ attention and provide them with unique value specific to their membership.

The solution: After gathering feedback from members and surveying membership programs from both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, UWAA launched MemberGrams. A modern take on the telegram, MemberGram email messages contain a concise (50–100 words), specific topic with a clear and immediate call to action, like this one about a Fran’s Chocolates offer. Examples include updates on new member benefits, information on exclusive events or offers, and special access to local cultural venues.

The UWAA also has used MemberGrams to highlight other units—such as the Graduate School and its public lecture series—and share information on both on- and off-campus events. While the UWAA sometimes uses geographic segmentation to provide members with localized offerings, many of the MemberGrams feature content relevant to all Alumni Association members.

The results: In addition to engaging current UWAA members, increasing members’ sense of connection to the UW and promoting brand awareness, the UWAA also earned the Silver Award from CASE for Alumni Relations Programs in the category of Marketing and Branding.

Questions about this project? Contact John Burkhardt, the UWAA’s director of marketing and communications, at johnbjr@uw.edu or x59272.

Now Available

Dawgs in London

Various UW units have been using social media to present a Husky-eye view of the summer Olympics in London. Athletics has devoted a section of its website to the Olympics and posted a list of Twitter accounts belonging to Husky athletes participating in the Games. University Marketing and UWAA have been sharing photos and observations from Husky fans who have traveled to London to experience all the Olympics activity in person. The official Twitter hashtag to continue using for the final days of the Games is #dawgsinlondon.

“UW|360” June episode

The June edition of UWTV’s “UW|360” is now available, as are these individual segments:

• UW alum and soccer star Hope Solo
• Twin medical school graduates
• UW Farm
• National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning
• Moving Images Collection from UW Libraries

Recently released on DVD

The 2012 Commencement Ceremony DVD is available through the University Book Store.

Greatest Moments at Husky Stadium, a special DVD collection recognizing the defining moments of Husky football history, is available at the University Book Store, Costco and Bartell Drugs.

Questions? Contact John Haslam at jhaslam@uw.edu.

Question of the Month

Q: My unit would like to use the UW’s preferred brand font, Frutiger. How can we get it? Are there acceptable alternatives to Frutiger?

A: Frutiger is the recommended san serif brand font. If your unit is interested in using Frutiger, the font can be purchased from fonts.com. We do not have a university-wide license at this time.

Alternatively, both Arial and Helvetica are acceptable sans serif fonts to use if Frutiger is not available.

For more information, view the typography guidelines on the University Marketing site.

Social Media Tips and Trends

Why isn’t all of your Facebook page content visible to all of your fans?

Every piece of content or interaction on Facebook is referred to as an “edge.” Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank (similar to Google’s Page Rank) to determine the most relevant content for each user. The highest-ranked content shows up at the top of a user’s Newsfeed. Three factors determine EdgeRank:

1. Affinity measures the strength of the relationship between users and their connections (friends, pages, groups, etc.). The more users interact with a connection, the greater the affinity score.
2. Time decay or recency refers to the “freshness” of the post. Newer content is more likely to appear on a user’s Newsfeed than older content.
3. Weight is the value of a story. Generally, videos, photos and links are more highly weighted than a text-only status update. “Likes” and comments on a story will also increase its weight.

What can you do to increase your content’s EdgeRank?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for increasing EdgeRank. But knowing what we know about how Facebook’s algorithm ranks content, here are some best practices to guide your Facebook marketing efforts:

• Do all you can to increase interaction with your fans. For example, prompt comments by directly asking users to share their thoughts.
• Go for variety. Supplement traditional status updates with photos, videos and links when relevant.
• Determine when your fans are most active and post during that timeframe to increase the odds of users commenting, liking and sharing your content.

Here are a few good articles, if you’d like to learn more:

• Facebook EdgeRank 101
• Facebook EdgeRank: what marketers need to know

Peer Review

University of Sheffield

When it comes to engaging students—or any audience for that matter—authenticity and transparency are paramount. The University of Sheffield in England achieves both (with a dash of personality to boot) through its YouTube channel. With playlists such as Why Sheffield, What our undergraduate students think and short clips sharing recent grads’ stories, Sheffield shares a variety of perspectives while shedding light on different facets of the university, its people and the surrounding area.

Did You Know?

• You can promote your message to a targeted audience during prime business hours by advertising on the UW’s hybrid/electric trucks. Reserve your space by contacting Mailing Services in Creative Communications at mailserv@uw.edu or x62633 or x69011. Need help with the design? Designers at Creative Communications are available to bring your idea to life.
• We received more than 400 entries for the You-W photo contest, hosted in June. Promoted primarily via social media (including this catchy video with crowd-sourced images), the contest encouraged the UW community to share their view of the University by submitting photos on the UW’s Facebook page. The winning photos will soon be flying high as new street pole banners around campus, replacing the 150th anniversary banners. And what about those 150th banners? To extend their value while upholding the UW’s commitment to sustainability, the 150th banners will be “upcycled” into iconic and one-of-a-kind branded merchandise, including tote bags, backpacks and iPad cases. Questions? Contact Gerald McRobbie at mcrobbie@uw.edu.
• As 150th anniversary celebrations draw to a close, the UW turns its full attention toward the future. During the next few months, University Marketing will roll out a campaign called Beyond 150. We will use social media channels to gather input from the UW community about what they would like to see the UW achieve in the next century and a half. In addition to engaging our community in creating our shared future, Beyond 150 will give the President and Provost valuable feedback.

Job Opportunities

• Office of Research Information Services: Digital Communications Manager, Req. # 84494 (Open until filled)
• School of Environmental and Forest Sciences: Director of Communications, Req. # 86621 (Open until filled)
• University Marketing: Director of Corporate Sponsorships, Req. # 85215 (Open until filled)
• UW Educational Outreach: Program Marketing Manager, Req. # 84033 (Open until filled)

Search the UW staff jobs database.

August 2012

Table of Contents

Best Practices
Now Available
Question of the Month
Social Media Tips
Peer Review
Did You Know?
Job Opportunities

Pride Points

Ranked #25 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2011-2012.

Raised $154,116 in 48 hours during the Love Purple, Raise Gold online giving event in June.

Ranked #3 in the Pac-12 in the amount of royalty dollars collected from the sales of UW licensed products.

New to the U

Let's give a warm Husky welcome to folks who've recently joined our ranks.

Welcome, Cathy Britt! Digital Communications Specialist, Burke Museum, brittca@uw.edu

Welcome, Elizabeth Hunter! Media Relations Manager, UW Medicine, elh415@uw.edu

Welcome, Ron Klamert! Director, Production, UWTV, rklamert@uw.edu

Welcome, Julie Lauderbaugh! Editorial Manager, Advancement Communications, julie2@uw.edu

Welcome, Kerry MacDonald! Associate Director, Marketing & Communications, UWAA/Alumni & Constituent Relations, kerrymac@uw.edu

Welcome, John Meyer! Communications Content Specialist, College of the Environment, jjmeyer@uw.edu

Welcome, Matt Wastradowski! Communications & Media Editor, UWAA/Alumni & Constituent Relations, wastro@uw.edu

Events to Promote

August 24
Record Appreciation with Matthew Green, part of a series of listening parties inspired by the exhibition The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, 6–8 p.m., Henry Art Gallery

September 1
Huskies vs. San Diego State Aztecs, 7:30 p.m., CenturyLink Field

September 7 & 10
Dependable Strengths Workshop for Alumni, 8:15 a.m.–5 p.m., UW Career Center (Discount for UWAA members)

September 10
Husky Union Building (HUB) Opening

September 20–23
Dawg Daze

October 21
Dawg Dash, 27th annual 10K run and 5K run/walk, 9:30 a.m.

For a full list of upcoming events, visit the UWAA events page and the UW Events and Calendars page.

Key Contacts

University Marketing
Key Nuttall, x56410, keyn@uw.edu

Brand Styles & Standards
Gerald McRobbie, x30828, mcrobbie@uw.edu

E-communications & Social Media
Elise Daniel, x68923, eperdan@uw.edu

Web Communications
Gina Hills, x32561, ghills@uw.edu

Other Topics
Contact mktg@uw.edu

Key Links

• Marketing Toolkits
• Photo Databases
• University Brand Guidelines