A leading US engineering school with 60,000 engineering graduates and 7 of the school’s 9 departments ranked in the top 10 nationally chose TREW Marketing for its development communications research and planning.

TREW conducted in-depth research – both internally and externally – to gain greater understanding of alumni and donor perceptions of the school and its future. Building upon the research findings, TREW then developed the “Brain” – core messaging for the school’s development initiative and funding areas – and 12-month communications activity plan.

Deliverables:

• Internal survey and meetings with faculty and staff, including the Dean and Department Chairs, to gain insight about the school’s branding, messaging and value perceptions
• Alumni-wide external survey to understand perceptions of the school and development branding, messaging, and communication purposes
• Recommendations for consistent school, department and program marketing to strengthen the brand
• Communications Brain, based on research data, includes:
  • School tagline
  • Campaign “pitch”
  • Tagline, pitch and top three key messages for four major funding areas

Results:

• 35 hours of intensive one-on-one meetings resulting in
  • 7 key findings
  • 14 “big ideas”
  • 25 recommendations

• Survey response rate of over 9%
  • 41% of respondents agreed to be contacted
• Event and internal communications strategies based on survey results/interviews
• Communications Brain to be used as messaging guide for all development communication activities
• Consistency and efficiency gains by using Brain messaging vs. reinventing messaging with each new development or program activity

Comments from School of Engineering Leadership:

The leadership team at the school, including the Associate Dean and Communications Director, commended TREW’s professional, detail-oriented approach, on-time and on-budget delivery. He recognized outstanding results and TREW’s experience working with engineers, making the company a perfect fit with the school.