Bringing the drive to discover home to Minnesota’s doorstep.

Twelve years ago, “the U” debuted its signature brand platform – Driven to Discover^® (D2D). Clouds parted, angels sang (the Minnesota Rouser). After 156 years, the U’s 18 schools galvanized around a single idea. The work felt more like a technology brand than a sleepy institution. Ads featured U researchers answering questions submitted by the public, showing how their work was answering Minnesota’s biggest concerns. The U was united. The U was connected to Minnesota. The U earned a gold Effie.

Sharpening our focus.

This campaign was not about recruiting students. It’s about building statewide support for a public institution that relies directly on public support, many of whom have little or no connection to the U. With that objective in mind, we landed on Minnesota opinion leaders as our primary audience.

We sharpened our audience further by exploring demographics, attitudes and behaviors.

Armed with this data, we knew we could make the U’s media budget work exponentially harder by reimagining its connection plan, and its stagnant creative platform, in a fresh, audience-focused way.

The Insight.

Being new, we were able to see what others had perhaps missed. Assignment in hand, we hung up all 12 years of the campaign and stepped back. What made some iterations connect while others did not? The answer would literally change the face of D2D. Because the face of the campaign, more often than not, was not Minnesotans, but the university’s faculty and staff. The campaign had consistently showed the U’s drive to discover, but it failed to show the impact of that drive on the lives of everyday Minnesotans. Which was a miss with an audience that, according to research, “Likes to stand out”, “Seek challenge, novelty and change”, “Wants to climb to the top” and is “Very active socially.”

With all that in mind, three strategic tenets guided our work.

The Idea.

You know the University of Minnesota. But do you know what the U does for you?

This simple question gave light to a complete reimagining of the University of Minnesota’s Driven to Discover® brand platform. It would encourage ongoing involvement by continually generating refreshed streams of content designed to reach our key influencers in the places they already spend their time. We modeled user journeys to ensure our content would reach each Minnesotan in the way—and on the platform—that they were most comfortable. It was in this way that we were able to unlock a true “subscription mentality” that kept them continually coming back for more.

The Work.

Taking a cue from the entertainment industry, we introduced the effort with a :60 trailer that teased people to a much larger body of work. The spot was set to highly hum-able original music (recorded by the actual University Marching Band), and showed what Minnesotans connect most with – Minnesota.

Next, came a series of quick-hit :15 TV, digital video and banner ads. Each continuing to invite the viewer to take discovery to the next degree but designed to get the idea across even if they didn’t.

At the campaign site, degrees of discovery are just what visitors found. Content in every form, from most schools, was made easily available. At the heart of which was a series of Driven to Discover documentaries. Each short film depicts a specific story of how a University faculty member’s work is directly affecting the state and its residents. In a highly cinematic fashion.

The Results.

Our reinvention of the U of M’s Driven to Discover platform dramatically exceeded all expectations, while stretching the budget to negotiate over $52K worth of added value media and over-delivering on broadcast impressions goals by 28%. Perhaps most telling, this effort has sparked new belief in Driven to Discover within the University of Minnesota community itself, with countless professors itching to share their stories in next year’s continuation.