University of Wisconsin Institutional Ad Campaign

About Project

As a part of UW–Madison’s multi-year “Can’t Stop a Badger” marketing campaign, the university has been running institutional print ads in the On Wisconsin alumni magazine. Throughout the campaign, we’d been hiring an outside agency to concept, write, and design these ads. But we knew we had the talent in our internal team to create new ads for 2023, and we wanted a chance to prove it.
We knew what we had to do.
We built a team that consists of creatives in UW’s Office of Strategic Communications — members of University Marketing and University Communications. We are a creative strategist, an art director, a writer/editor, and a photographer.
From start to finish, the process was collaborative: first, we brainstormed messaging that was expressive and conducive to visuals but could remain flexible. Next we brainstormed visual concepts that aligned with the messaging and featured the best of UW–Madison. Finally, we edited final copy, sourced and shot photography, and designed a set of photo illustrations that comprise the final three ads.
This ad series is distinctive for us in a few ways. Creatively, the ads tell a story of the UW’s vast educational opportunities through visual and messaging juxtaposition. Creative photo treatment, illustration, and word play are paired with the UW’s brand fonts, colors, and graphic elements. Intentional in the way they use wit, scale, and color, the effect is to create a set of ads that is at once deeply rooted in UW–Madison, yet unconventional in presentation — especially for a Big Ten University.
Finally, we got a tremendous ROI on this project. For example, photography was sourced from already existing campus activities and good old shoe leather. For the “Roots & Wings” ad, the photographer built a clear box to “plant” the beet sourced from a professor’s lab, creating a striking practical effect. Not to mention, we already work here! So we went from standard university ads at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars to an outside agency, to a fresh and unique take on this place — at no cost to the university.