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THE BACKSTORY

Inside NU is a new student-run sports website

focusing on Northwestern athletics.

My job was to create a brand identity that would

increase student readership.

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Strengths

•Press access of a

traditional newspaper

•Editorial liberty of a blog

Weaknesses

•Lacks brand identity

•Lacks exposure

Opportunities

Strengths enable it to be

positioned as the

“sports voice of the

Northwestern student”

Threats

Controversial opinions

could alienate NU

students

RESEARCH: SWOT ANALYSIS OF INSIDENU

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“This article is an embarrassment to

our school.”

-User: Lauren

The Daily should try to publish

stories that exemplify

Northwestern rather than

humiliate it.

-User: Anonymous

“Once again, the Daily doesn’t fail

in embarrassing me as a

Northwestern student with its

offensive material.”

-User: Kuai

“I thought my school was supposed to

be comprised of people with brains.”

-User: Teddy M

NU students are very protective of their image as a student body and are

hostile to papers who tarnish it.

The Daily Northwestern: Affirmative action dangerously

shortsighted (10/16/12)

The Daily Northwestern: When cheering is no longer harmless (2/3/13)

CONSUMER RESEARCH

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THE INSIGHT

To prevent backlash, InsideNU needed to gain the

students’ trust before it positioned itself as the

“sports voice of the NU student.”

To gain this trust, it needed to prove it looked out for

the common fan.

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THE STRATEGY

Host a series of open forums focusing on hot button

issues in Northwestern sports, where students are

encouraged to voice their opinion.

This will garner the students’ trust and prove to

them that InsideNU is dedicated to giving them a

voice.

Source: http://1.usa.gov/YX6oej

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Y.O.U. is an Evanston-based youth development

agency that provides extra-curricular social and

educational support to disadvantaged youths.

My team’s objective was to increase youth

participation.

THE BACKSTORY

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Focus groups and informational interviews with

Evanston youth and parents revealed that Y.O.U.

has developed a reputation as a place to “correct

troubled kids.”

Because of this, many youths who are interested in

Y.O.U. avoid going out of fear that they will be

stigmatized by their peers.

CONSUMER RESEARCH

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By reframing itself as an agency for upward mobility, Y.O.U. can

eliminate its stigma.

THE INSIGHT

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Partner with Boy and Girl Scouts of America to create troops for middle schoolers in Y.O.U.’s after-school program.

These organizations are renown for building the future leaders of America.

Halo effect will help establish that Y.O.U. has similar goals.

THESTRATEGY: PARTNERSHIPS

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Create entrepreneurial module for high schoolers in Y.O.U.’s after-school program.

THE STRATEGY: PROGRAMMING

Positions Y.O.U. as a

creator of future business

leaders.

Source: http://bit.ly/XhKy4a

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ISA World Cup is a Northwestern student group that

organizes an annual soccer tournament.

Its goal is to promote diversity and intercultural

collaboration between students through a shared

passion for soccer.

My task was to use Facebook to bring together and

engage the NU community of soccer fans.

THE BACKSTORY

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NU students are bombarded on Facebook every

day with messages from student organizations to

support their cause.

Because of this, they avoid interacting with groups

on social media, even ones they support.

CONSUMER RESEARCH

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To attract an audience, the FB

page had to become more

than just another student group

solicitation platform.

It had to humanize itself and

provide a service that

incentivized students to join

the community.

THE INSIGHT

Source: Mediabistro.com

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THE STRATEGY

Turn the Facebook page into NU students’ top

destination for news and entertainment from the

world of soccer.

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ENGAGING CONTENT

Source: Mashable.com

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ORIGINAL CONTENT

Tweets from soccer star FB post