Orientation Integrated Marketing Plan Development
Unlike the previous years, 2021 allowed me to have the opportunity to create thoughtful designs that would carry on from the beginning to the end of the Orientation season in a manner that would still bring excitement and energy despite being in the virtual setting. From digital to print products, graphic design to photography, this marketing campaign was a time of exploration and figuring how to cohesively bring everything together and retain the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) brand while also giving the Orientation team at CSUSB – Palm Desert Campus its own sub-brand.
The focus this time is to elevate the team through our graphics and marketing presence by highlight the team’s work and life, specifically with our student Orientation Leaders (OLs), by giving them a sense of agency, and with our incoming students, making them feel a part and proud to be a Coyote.
Orientation Team
Zoom Backgrounds
When orientation was in-person, our team wore name tags. Since the pandemic caused a shift for programming to be held virtually, I found the opportunity for our team to have a sense of identity and agency within our program. I designed personalized zoom backgrounds as an alternative to the name tags.
The design was such a success that, when a selection of our team had to be participate in the NODA – Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education Conference in February 2021, every other orientation program from other universities were inspired by us because we were the only university (campus for that matter) to have custom zoom backgrounds. Not even the San Bernardino Campus of our university had custom zoom backgrounds. It was the best feeling to have that my design caught the eyes of many universities at a national level.
Social Media
Whether by highlighting our team, or delivering content that was useful to the student, our social media was a way for incoming students to get to know our students and staff members prior to participating in our pre-orientation and orientation sessions, as well as before their semester started.
PDC Pack Prep
PDC Pack Prep was a pilot program in 2020 as a way to help students be better prepared and engaged with the university and our recourses before their orientation sessions. We saw the importance of it after the feedback from the surveys our incoming students completed. Only orientation sessions existed and this was the debut of the campus’ pre-orientation season.
In 2021 with the lessons learned and time to fully prepare for the virtual setting, we continued to host PDC Pack Prep with a higher turn-out rate, doubling the attendance from the previous year and reducing the amount of time needed to disseminate the necessary information to the students.
Social Media
To marketing PDC Pack Prep on Instagram, we used dynamic carousel posts. This one in particular highlighted the feedback and comments students left from 2020 about the benefits of attending PDC Pack Prep. Why we had to advertise the importance of the program was that it was considered optional, unlike orientation sessions which are mandatory under the university’s enrollment procedures.
Flyer Design
I was tasked to create a design that attracted the students attention while also displaying the necessary information that made it functional for the student. Because I was able to get screenshots of our sessions from 2020, it was a way to humanize the sessions that were to take place.
This flyer was then embedded in the email that was sent out multiple times to incoming students from mid-March to the beginning of April.
Presentation
Unlike the orientation sessions, PDC Pack Prep is completely student run. The presentation design in which I created was a collaboration effort with students on figuring out the necessary information needed to give to a student while not overloading them with information.
This presentation consisted of 34 slides that tied in to promote our social media and special early-bird dates students can pick-up their swag items.
Promotional Items
This was the first time I was given the opportunity to design multiple promotional items for our students that met our budget. From t-shirts to stickers to items our team needed, I was able to have creative control and think of items student would want to have and like to wear versus receiving items they were probably not going to use.
Promotional Item Designs
The idea was to create a design that was more minimalistic but still retain the CSUSB brand among the our promotional items. Two versions of the design were created, one for the t-shirts, and the other for the rest of the promotional items. This is to keep the same consistency and recognition of the design. Also, since some printing spaces are smaller and tighter, it allowed for consistency in the paw print recognition while removing some of the inner elements.
T-Shirt | Drawstring Bag | Lens Cleaner
Sticker Designs
Like other requests, I was excited to create various sticker designs that students would want to place on their water bottle, laptop, or any other item they wish to place on. Each sticker has its own identity, charm, and playfulness while honoring the CSUSB brand.
EZ-Up Tent Design
We wanted a simple yet, fun design that spoke about our program and maintained the university's brand. These tents were used when the department hosted and participated in events for incoming and current students.
