Stan Richards School

Super Rockin SixZac Bodner, Victor Gill, Samantha Hicks,

Brooke McMahon, Stephanie Marcu, Heather Patterson

Introduction

The SRS is one of the best advertising schools in the country. But as with any organization or brand - there is always room for improvement.

Problem Statement

How should the SRS define and communicate the graduate program brand to prospective students and ranking agencies?

Critical Factors

• Program Structure• Website• Visual Branding• Relationships with agencies and alumni• Target Audience• Showcasing Brand Value

Recommendation

1. SRS Graduate Program Faculty Meeting2. Updated Logo 3. Website

Program Structure• Defines the SRS brand• If program structure is lacking clarity, is undefined, or is unknown, then the brand value will suffer.• Goal: well-defined and transparent brand

Faculty Meeting• Purpose: To define the 3 tracks and overall goals of the program

Virginia Commonwealth UniversityGraduate Program

Goals:• A more defined program structure• A clear definition of each track• A coherent direction for the program

A meeting has been called to help strengthen the brand that is the SRS graduate program. All faculty members who are part of the SRS graduate program are required to attend a meeting to ensure each faculty member is on the same page as to what the goals for the program are and to discuss the program structure, more speci�cally the three tracks.

SRS Graduate Program Faculty Meeting

Spring 2016

OBJECTIVES FOR MEETING: - What are the goals for the program?

- Faculty’s de�nition of “AdGrad”

- Is there anything that should be added to website that isn’t there?

- De�ne what the three tracks entail/what students can expect from pursuing track.

CREATIVE TRACK DEFINITION How do the courses from this track prepare students for the real world? (i.e. what professions?)

ACCOUNT PLANNING TRACK DEFINITION How do the courses from this track prepare students for the real world? (i.e. what professions?)

MEDIA TRACK DEFINITION How do the courses from this track prepare students for the real world? (i.e. what professions?)

The Importance of Visual Branding

STANRICHARDSschool

Showcasing Brand Value

The Stan Richards Schooldoesn’t sell tacos.

SRS Graduate Website • The case study revealed that 66% of the students found this Master’s program through online research.• SRS graduate webpage had not been updated in over 5 years and was in major need of an update.• The case study also stated that students wish there to be more transparency of the program on the website itself.• The current website is lacking specific information about the three tracks offered in the program: Creative, Media, and Account Planning.

Example:VCU, one of UT’s biggest competitors, does a good job of displaying their brand transparently through their website by showing exactly what the program has to offer.

RecommendationFor prospective students to get an accurate representation and transparent view of the SRS Graduate Program, graduate students in the program will all be given the chance at the beginning of next semester to design what the new SRS website will look like, as well as how content is displayed. Members of the SRS faculty will be on the deciding board, and once a design is selected, the student will then spend the rest of the semester working with the web developer on staff for SRS on creating the site.

Also included on the Website:

An Updated version of the SRS Graduate Brochure.

• Over 100 downloads of it per week.• Needs to be transparent as well as updated and clearly outline what prospective students can expect from this program.

CREATIVE.

MEDIA.

ACCOUNT PLANNING.

Insert the name of the three tracks here

Updated Graduate Brochure Continued

Mention of the program stucture and it’s three tracks needs to be in this section

Logo will be replaced with new SRS logo.

Insert: Introduce the three tracks and their definitions along with the course work for each track.

Logo will be replaced with new SRS logo.

Updated Graduate Brochure Continued

Insert: Course descriptions for the 6 core classes and for the ADV elective courses.

Logo will be replaced with new SRS logo.

Add in at the end add all possible jobs that one can go into after graduating the program.

Logo will be replaced with new SRS logo.

Thank you!

Q & A