West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, Sept. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Purdue University’s award-winning marketing department announced a strategic rebranding to reflect its capabilities and role within the institution. Effective Friday (Sept. 13), the unit officially began operating as Purdue Brand Studio, solidifying its position as a full-service, in-house marketing agency.
“Purdue Brand Studio is more than a new name — it’s an acknowledgment of our existing capabilities and a strategic move to align the university with standards of marketing excellence found at major consumer brands,” said Kelly Hiller, the university’s vice president of marketing. “This shift allows us to harness our strengths in creative and brand strategy more effectively, driving us to innovate and enchant.
“In reality, our team already performs at an agency level,” she said. “Now, our next giant leap is to formalize that reality in a new way so we can best serve the Purdue brand and land-grant mission.”
This shift in positioning builds upon Purdue Brand Studio’s track record of award-winning marketing campaigns and industry recognition and aims to enhance the team’s ability to deliver long-term value to partners across business-to-business and business-to-consumer ecosystems.
The announcement coincided with the Thursday (Sept. 12) premiere of “Boilers to Mars,” a feature film and marketing campaign.
Itself a multifaceted marketing mission, the 10-minute film follows the academic and professional careers of four fictional Purdue students who meet as first-year undergraduates and are ultimately part of a historic first mission to Mars.
Purdue Brand Studio has secured support for “Boilers to Mars” from SpaceKids Global, a collaboration that may speak to the department’s reputation for excellence. SpaceKids Global aims to inspire and empower young minds by introducing kids to the diversity of careers in space exploration and technology.
Praise and partners
Purdue has garnered unprecedented visibility in direct relation to the accomplishments of its marketing and communications department, including a number of novel accolades and opportunities for the university.
In July targeted efforts to ensure the world understands the breadth and value of the Purdue brand culminated with the university being named the No. 1 most recognized university among U.S. public universities and No. 9 in the world in the 2024-25 Global University Visibility rankings.
The institutional spot “What Can You Imagine at Purdue?” has been viewed nearly 30 million times on YouTube, was honored by the Content Marketing Institute as the Best Motivational Video of 2023, and joined brands like Pfizer and e.l.f. Cosmetics as a PR Daily 2023 Content Marketing Campaign winner.
For the third straight year, in 2023 Purdue was included among Fast Company magazine’s Brands That Matter for performing its mission and ideals with intention and authenticity. Purdue was the first university on the list and continues to be one of the only higher education institutions to hold this space.
In April the marketing and communications team collaborated with two globally recognized brands, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASA, for the Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Event, garnering a visit from national media — including “Good Morning America” — and becoming the largest single day of earned media exposure in Purdue history.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
About SpaceKids Global
SpaceKids Global is a Florida-based national nonprofit with the mission to educate and actively engage a national audience of elementary students in STEAM activities, ensuring girls are equally represented while inspiring all to pursue careers in space exploration and technology. For more information, www.spacekids.global.