Defining a place as a way of doing things for University at Buffalo.
That “at” is no mistake. University at Buffalo, as the flagship campus of the SUNY system, is very much its own animal. They wanted to stand tall, well apart, and as a close peer with other AAU institutions.
The idea for their new brand would be inspired by the surroundings and demeanor of Buffalo itself. Every part of every campus building is designed for work. The intense winters literally drive students and faculty underground and out of the elements, where they dive deeper into their work. The place of UB is its own way of doing things.
The handle for the UB story became Here is How. The tone of the work is direct and experiential. Video assets were shot from the point of view UB students, athletes, and researchers, making the viewer the catalyst for the How. The work earned UB recognition as AMA higher ed Marketer of the Year.
Place is essential to a story, especially when it carries and transmits the culture of an institution. Buffalo (like my native Detroit) wears its place proudly.
So, Buffalo is a way of doing things. Now, how do we show that? The inspiration came from overhead POV recipe videos—the kind with little tell and plenty of show. In essence, a how-to video showing the viewer what it’s like to be on the business end of lava, cure Parkinson’s with spider venom, defy gravity in service of dance, chuck a shotput a record distance, and outrun climate change.
Olympics Anthem Spot
The newer campus is Buffalo dates from an age of campus insurrection, and is therefore designed with plenty of windowless bulwark, while all across campus, tunnels and bridges keep students moving when the temperatures would have it otherwise. And out east, there’s another city in the state of New York that needs to know there’s plenty happening in Buffalo.
Environmentals
UB needed a viewbook that rode the edge between prestige and accessibility; between aspiration and brass tacks; and between approachability and heads-down tenacity. Basically, it needed to stand proxy for the whole institution, and make a 17-year-old get excited stay excited about studying at the flagship SUNY institution at the polar (and for a few months out of the year Polar) opposite side of the state from NYC.
Undergraduate Viewbook
UB liked to make a splash in the spaces and publications of higher ed and mainstream thought-leadership, with high profile buys in the Chronicle, where we’d deftly connect the wonkiest of institutional details (the new curriculum) with averting global catastrophe, and in the Sunday Times Magazine, where we’d happily use Rosie, the disease-curing Rose Toed Tarantula, to cause arachnophobic readers to bobble their latte
Chronicle of Higher Education and New York Times ads
Head: Meet Rosie. Copy: A protein derived from her species’ venom is how University at Buffalo researchers are exploring a potential therapy for muscular dystrophy. Stories like Rosie’s happen every day at UB. Our culture of big thinking and bigger doing inspires renowned faculty and passionate students to relentlessly push the boundaries of inquiry and academic excellence. Propelling us to new heights and improving lives across our state, country and world. That’s how we do it here. Where ambition is a virtue. Tenacity is a given. And we show the world: Here is How.
Head: Guess why our new curriculum is so important. (You’re getting warmer.) Copy: This is the Arctic. Greenland, to be precise. And for acclaimed climate change expert and Associate Professor Jason Briner – and the undergrad researchers studying with him out here and back in Buffalo – the mud extracted from the lake bed reveals our climates past, present, and possible future. This is the new UB Curriculum in action. A collaborative approach to general education. Guided by individualized learning paths, infused with the liberal arts and designed for the 21st century – a time that demands big thinkers and bigger. All from a university that refuses to stand still, always striving to show the world: Here is How.
Telling the UB story was a big part of my life. As an institution, they took brand seriously. Like train-every-single-decanal-unit-in-the-brand seriously. And train them I did. It’s a sobering task teaching wildly intelligent people how to tell the story of their work, but UB has stuck with their investment. Years later, the work is still a part of their brand vernacular.
Brand Process Video
While you’re behind the scenes, check out the full case study from Ologie: