New Ideas for the UW System

A redesigned Wisconsin Ideas publication leads an array of new and innovative UW System marketing efforts this year.

These efforts complement the university's long-standing marketing vehicles, including Introduction to the University of Wisconsin System, the main admissions booklet for the UW System; publications produced by the UW System Higher Education Location Program, or HELP; and numerous campus publications.

Wisconsin Ideas, the main UW System news publication, has been redesigned starting with this issue. The redesigned Ideas will be published quarterly and follows more of a magazine approach with a unique 10-inch by 12-inch format and a separate cover. The new format replaces the six-times-a-year tabloid approach used over the past several years.

"The tabloid design was outdated, and it was time for a new look and a new approach to Ideas," says Erik Christianson, UW System news and publications editor and editor of Wisconsin Ideas. "The reinvented Ideas offers more breadth and substance on a quarterly publication cycle, which makes it even more of a valuable publication than in the past."

Christianson says Wisconsin Ideas is an important internal and external communications tool that gives campuses the opportunity to showcase their best and brightest programs and people to their peers across the UW System and around the state.

Of particular focus in the redesigned publication will be stories that highlight the important partnerships involving UW System campuses that are benefiting the people of Wisconsin, Christianson says.

This ad appears in No Limits, a new publication that targets Wisconsin high school students. The ad is one of many UW System marketing initiatives.

Another important change for Ideas this year is distribution to classified staff as well as UW System faculty and academic staff. Legislators and other state and community leaders also receive the publication.

"Classified staff comprise more than one-third of all UW System employees, and it is important that they are included in our communications efforts," Christianson says.

Other new UW System marketing efforts this year include advertising in No Limits, a twice-a-year publication that targets Wisconsin high school students. No Limits is produced by Trails Media Group of Black Earth, Wis.

No Limits is published in September and January and includes articles and other information for college-bound students. UW System is featured on the inside back cover with an ad that highlights the UW System and its campuses as "26 Great Choices."

The design of Intro and a corresponding poster, Intro-related brochures and the No Limits ad feature similar but not identical layout and color designs to the UW HELP publications, to ensure visual continuity with students, parents, high school counselors and others.

"In this age of information, it is vitally important to communicate with our various constituents through a variety of mediums," Christianson says. "Many of our products, of course, are aimed at faculty, staff and students. At the same time, they are tools that assist us in marketing the entire UW System. They augment existing campus and System efforts, and they communicate to the citizens of the state and beyond the tremendous value of the UW System."