Rutgers hires nationally recognized marketing and communications firm
Archived article from Oct 10, 2005
By Carla Cantor
The university has hired Lipman Hearne, a nationally renowned marketing and communications firm, to develop a major communications and outreach program that will emphasize Rutgers’ reputation as a premier public research institution.
The firm will help Rutgers tell its story more effectively, which may include everything from a targeted advertising campaign to more aggressive communication about faculty and student accomplishments to possibly designing a new logo.
President Richard L. McCormick announced the firm’s selection at his Annual Address
to the University Community Sept 16. “Telling the Rutgers story better will have multiple benefits,” he said. “It will help us attract outstanding students and faculty, it will improve the public’s understanding of who we are and what we do, and it will contribute to our obtaining the resources we need.”
The Chicago-based firm was chosen through a national search by a universitywide
21-member task force of faculty, administrators and students, led by Paul Leath, professor and chair of the department of physics and astronomy on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus. The task force started with a list of 153 marketing and public relations firms that was narrowed to 15 that submitted full proposals.
“Through its extensive experience with other major universities and highly competent
staff, Lipman Hearne believes that Rutgers’ message needs to represent a consensus of the internal constituencies of the university for it to have an impact on the external world,” Leath said.
Over the next year, Leath said, the firm’s staff will meet with faculty, students, staff and alumni to “help develop the message of what Rutgers is and what makes it unique among research universities.” Through this process, he added, “I believe that we shall all begin to better realize and appreciate what a wonderful university we have.”
Lipman Hearne will sign a one-year contract with Rutgers and will be paid $500,000 in
the first phase of the initiative, but university officials anticipate that the plan ultimately will be a multiyear effort.
“It is difficult to influence public understanding and opinions without a focused, well-coordinated and sustained communication and outreach effort,” said Kim Manning-Lewis, vice president for university relations.
Manning-Lewis said that the initial focus of the work would be on message and visual identity elements for the university overall and for the three regional campuses in Newark, Camden and New Brunswick/Piscataway. “Obviously we cannot fully address all aspects of the communications program in New Brunswick until the discussions and actions regarding the Undergraduate Education Task Force Report are complete,” she said.
The administration decided to overhaul Rutgers’ communications last year after commissioning a survey of how Rutgers is perceived by a broad range of New Jersey constituencies inside and outside the university. The Constituency Research Survey, found that the university needs to do a better job communicating its strengths to internal and external audiences and that people are confused by Rutgers’ numerous schools, campuses and programs.
Rutgers officials expect work to begin with Lipman Hearne this fall. In addition to developing institutional advertising and new communication materials, the university also wants to improve its relationship with the state by increasing participation in community events and expanding its speakers bureau to connect Rutgers experts with local groups.
Lipman Hearne works exclusively with the nonprofit sector, and 70 percent of its clients are colleges and universities. The firm’s clients have included the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Illinois, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, Seton Hall University and The College of New Jersey.
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