Donald W. Poucher
Assistant Vice President
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida

Background

INTRODUCTION
The UF/IFAS organizational commitment to institutional marketing is broadly outlined in the long range planning document Putting Florida FIRST (November, 1999). According to the commitment, " . . . IFAS must therefore develop and implement an analytically sound institutional marketing plan, the objectives of which include creating awareness, developing preferences, and securing support commitments."

Method

BASIC INSTITUTIONAL MARKETING PLAN
Research Component—The institutional marketing plan included a major research component to understand levels of awareness, preferences and commitment among audiences, and provide the benchmarks for measuring the progress of the institutional marketing effort.

The research component commissioned a general audience study in July, 1999. The study demonstrated there is a fractionalization of the IFAS identity and a very low general awareness of the parent organization (IFAS) as well as its sub-units (College of Agriculture, Extension Service, Experiment Station, etc.). There is little or no UF/IFAS branding of programs.

Results

The institutional marketing plan's short term objectives therefore include developing awareness of sub-unit linkages to the IFAS parent and creating IFAS brand awareness among IFAS supporters and clientele.

Long range objectives include positioning IFAS as the provider of choice among those clientele with an awareness of the IFAS linkage; helping public decision makers develop a commitment to support IFAS with necessary resources at local, state and national levels; and helping secure a private sector commitment for helping generate public support of programs.

Beyond the initial research project, the basic elements of an institutional marketing plan include branding, message and positioning, audience identification and external relations/communications tools and projects.

The IFAS Brand---Branding, or the clear differentiation and provider identification of values, impacts, and benefits of specific products and services is a major factor inconsumer awareness and preferences for those products and services. The provider must clearly link its values and consumer benefits to its products and services. For IFAS branding, the key lies with linking the values of the organization with the potential benefits of the program imperatives identified by the long range planning process. In the Putting Florida FIRST long range planning document, the values of the IFAS brand are as follows: commitment to excellence; through diversity ensuring gender, racial and social balance; building world-class programs that are responsive and accountable to Florida citizens; and a commitment to developing a global perspective in programs. The planning document further defines the impacts of IFAS program imperatives as protecting and enhancing water quality; protecting humans, plants and animals from pests; reducing the human impacts on natural ecosystems; promoting global competitiveness; advancing food safety and developing new food products; enhancing human resources; providing society-ready graduates; and providing public policy analysis for decision making. The cumulative effect of tying the organizational values to the program benefits defines the IFAS brand. The values and the benefits define the IFAS brand; they are the IFAS message.

Message and Positioning---As has been indicated, Putting Florida FIRST defines the IFAS basic thrusts. Those thrusts describe an effort to accelerate an institution, industries, communities, and a state and its people to the very top position among counterparts throughout the nation. Those thrusts and their effort to accelerate provide the necessary institutional positioning message as follows: IFAS IS PUTTING FLORIDA FIRST. Every sub-unit within the IFAS organization can position itself through one of more Florida FIRST imperatives. In some cases, the best positioning will incorporate geography and program area as in (local) IFAS County Extension Office is putting Florida FIRST in protecting our (local area) natural resources. In others, the reference may be more general such as the IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory is putting Florida FIRST in reducing the threat of mosquitos. In both cases, both statements provide the basis for expanded dialog on specific ways the units are putting Florida FIRST. The statements position IFAS as advancing the causes of the state and its citizens. While there may be latitude in selection of which benefits/thrusts are used by each of the sub-units, there can be little latitude in the adoption and use of the basic positioning statement itself. The statements must be used consistently among all sub-units of the organization otherwise the identity fractionalization documented by the initial research will not be resolved. The key is message consistency and the need for each of the sub-units to build their local/discipline/benefit images consistently within the IFAS family, under the IFAS umbrella. While individual sub-units have goals and impacts which make them strong and viable parts of the IFAS organization, these goals must be communicated within an overarching mission and position as a part of a multitude of voices, each a variation of a common theme.

Audiences, Marketing Objectives and External Relations/Communications Tools---The previously described positioning statement is easily adaptable to the IFAS sub-units, and to each of the institutional marketing objectives, which range in desired audience behavioral change from creating awareness to securing resource commitments. Therefore, audience and objectives play an important role in determining specific tools to be employed. However, each type of audience has its own characteristics and must be approached in a manner consistent with the desired objective to be accomplished. Further, all audiences both internal and external must be considered and a strategy for accomplishing the desired behavioral change for each audience must be developed. The basic tools may range from full publications, multi-media presentations and exhibits to specific media pieces, speakers' presentations (power point /slides/ overheads) and media training kits/manuals.

Internal audience types range from internal audiences of our own faculty and staff to colleagues throughout the campus. External audiences reflect diverse characteristics and strategies and range from colleagues at other institutions and agencies to stakeholders, resource providers, the media and general public. A specific strategy for accomplishing a specific objective should be developed with specific tools designated for use.

Specific tools which were adapted with the special characteristics of each of the several major target audiences included major Florida FIRST publications including base papers and executive summaries; special Florida FIRST inserts for IMPACT and industry publications; a Florida FIRST video and written supporting brochure; television programming including PSA's and video news releases; Power Point for overhead slide presentations; an interactive web page; a portable exhibit for special events; development of a Florida FIRST Speakers Bureau; and initiation of a mini-grant program designed to promote the adoption and implementation of Florida FIRST linkage strategy and other parts of the Institutional Marketing Plan.

The UF/IFAS Institutional Marketing Plan focuses on four major goals as follows: impact data base development; constituent/decision-maker relations; strategic communications development and implementation; and crisis communications planning.

1) Complete data-base of UF/IFAS impacts (by county and by legislative and congressional districts as appropriate). Impacts include major local needs/issues, academic program information, alumni members, extension program types and impacts, research programs and impacts, office footprints, UF/IFAS dollars spent and multipliers, volunteer impacts, jobs (FTE^Áfs) generated, faculty awards, program rankings.

2) Constituent and decision-maker relations. It is critical to conduct volunteer/ clientele, identification, engagement and mobilization workshops at extension and research facilities throughout the state.

3) Strategic Communications. Basic tools developed during the first year continued to be upgraded. Strategic communications programs were focused by media and by audience and included a special emphasis on student and faculty awards and recognition publicity, staff and faculty training, media days, and other special events.

Extra effort has been made to broaden the use of the UF/IFAS positioning (UF/IFAS is Putting Florida FIRST) to include the development program and state governmental relations. Interaction between the External Relations Office and the Development and Governmental Relations Offices should occur on a regular basis.

The IFAS message of Putting Florida FIRST, must be linked to every unit and subunit within the state. In all parts of Florida, county offices, research centers, departments, and other units were asked to link themselves directly to IFAS and position themselves as examples of how IFAS is Putting Florida FIRST.

An important way to accomplish the linkage and positioning is to emphasize key programs and impacts within geographic regions of Florida. The theme IFAS is Putting Florida FIRST in South (Central, North, and West) Florida spotlights IFAS units and faculty who are conducting high impact/profile programs that are indeed Putting Florida FIRST in each region. In addition to conducting local training programs and developing local promotions, events, signs, and other tools to advance the basic message, four statewide vehicles now being produced within IFAS offer continuing tools for projecting the message and the linkages, as follows:

a) IMPACT Magazine . . . Special regional issues will continue tracking broad Florida FIRST imperatives by highlighting programs, facilities, and faculty who are Putting Florida FIRST. Additionally, there are special issues that are part of the Florida FIRST imperatives and cornerstone capabilities, such as biotechnology, public policy issues, and precision technologies that can be emphasized in statewide terms along with a reprise of the eight imperatives. In all cases, the thematic glue that holds it all together is IFAS (people, units, processes) is Putting Florida FIRST. A content schedule for 2000-2001 IMPACT is as follows:

Spring, 2000: UF/IFAS: Putting Florida FIRST in South Florida
Fall, 2000: UF/IFAS: Putting Florida FIRST in Central Florida.
Winter, 2001: UF/IFAS: Putting Florida FIRST in North Florida.
Summer, 2001: UF/IFAS: Putting Florida FIRST in West Florida.

b) UF/IFAS NEWSLINE . . . The Newsline tabloid highlights impacts on a regional basis. The value of Newsline is that it provides a means for communicating projects and programs that may not offer profile levels required for IMPACT magazine. This publication should continue and follow the same thematic emphasis of IFAS is Putting Florida FIRST.

c) VIDEO NEWS . . . Of all the active television products now offered by IFAS, the video news program is enjoying the most success. During the month of December 2000 alone, IFAS stories used by television media accounted for 66 percent of all those used in total from the University of Florida. Individual stations used 90 IFAS stories; networks used 1,200 IFAS stories. The return on investment and effectiveness as a generator of awareness is high. What must occur next is that all video releases must be pitched to the theme IFAS is Putting Florida FIRST. In selecting subject matter, video producers should use the IMPAC T magazine as a tipping source to gain multiple exposure for programs in the manner of a campaign.

d) PRINT NEWS . . . The UF/IFAS print news program seems to be enjoying as high a level of success as the video news activity, with solid use of major releases through the UF News Desk by major dailies and the wire services increasing during the past year. In the future, a more aggressive approach to targeting weeklies should occur along with increases in specific commodity support stories to the trade/industry press. In all cases, the Putting Florida FIRST theme must be emphasized and utilized at a higher incidence than in the past.

4) Crisis Communications . . . Crisis communications plan development, including potential crisis identification and mitigation, crisis remediation, media relations, spokesperson training, and risk communications were important tasks for 2000-2001. Specifically, work with research and education centers continued and was expanded to include county offices within the sphere of influences of the centers for spokesperson training programs.

Special effort was made to openly, factually and purposely discuss biotechnology issues through op ed pieces in newspapers, media events and workshops, and public forums on "News you can use" in biotechnology. Other "risk" communication subjects for which UF/IFAS should plan include public health menaces and food safety issues.

Other activities conducted during the first two years of Florida FIRST included the formation of the UF/IFAS External Relations Advisory Committee and the UF/IFAS External Relations Council, development and implementation of an official UF/IFAS identity policy, the creation of a UF/IFAS cadre of spokespersons, and the deployment of institutional marketing grants among UF/IFAS faculty teams throughout the state.

5) The UF/IFAS External Relations Advisory Committee was formed and charged with an advisory function on issues related to the UF/IFAS external relations effort, as related to:

-- Public relations and communications marketing.

-- Institutional marketing programs including positioning, identity programs, press relations and crisis communications.

-- Federal relations liaison/communications.

-- Decision maker educational programs.

-- Constituent relations and communications.

-- Strategic communications planning.

-- Internal communications strategy and coordination.


6) The UF/IFAS External Relations Council is comprised of key UF/IFAS communications personnel throughout the state. Its mission is to support UF/IFAS by initiating and implementing marketing strategies that are consistent with the UF/IFAS Institutional Marketing Plan, including communicating UF/IFAS excellence and its goals, and facilitating access to UF/IFAS by all audiences.

With guidance from the UF/IFAS External Relations Committee, the UF/IFAS External Relations Council focuses on two major goals: strategic communications planning and development, and crisis communication planning.

-- Strategic Communications Planning includes participating in public awareness research; developing positioning themes and strategies for advancing the UF/IFAS identity; developing communications tools (external and internal); assisting with UF/IFAS-wide media activities, special communications projects, and media relations; and participating in projects of the University of Florida Communications Network.

-- Crisis Communications includes crisis communications plan development; potential crisis identification and mitigation; crisis remediation; and spokesperson training.

7) UF/IFAS Identity Standards were also codified into an official policy statement contained as a UF/IFAS Internal Management Memorandum (IMM). The policy is based on the UF/IFAS External Relations Manual for Public Accountability, the ^Ágofficial^Áh UF/IFAS identity manual. The IMM statement incorporated the basic information in both the UF/IFAS manual and the UF manual and included suggestions from the UF/IFAS External Relations Advisory Committee regarding consistent identity standards for all resources, including web pages of UF/IFAS units and sub-units.

8) Continued developing the data base of UF/IFAS impacts by county and by legislative and congressional districts as appropriate. Impacts include major needs/issues, academic program information, alumni numbers, extension program types and impacts, research programs and impacts office footprints, UF/IFAS dollars spent and multipliers, volunteer impacts, jobs generated, faculty awards, and program rankings.

9) Deployed five institutional marketing mini-grants. The first round of institutional marketing mini-grants were awarded on a competitive basis to five teams throughout the state. Each grant totaled $ 8,000 and were awarded to projects as follows: Developing Marketing Tools for Research and Education Center and Extension faculty; Marketing Florida First Through Creative Television Programming; Using Volunteer Contact Programs for Institutional Marketing; Enhancing Research and Extension Outreach Programs Through Digital Audio Visual Equipment and Techniques; and Using Exhibits to Showcase UF/IFAS Research and Extension Programming.

Conclusions

ROAD SIGNS AND BENCHMARKS

The success of the IFAS institutional marketing program will be measured by the success of the Florida FIRST effort itself. Obviously, the success of IFAS in attracting new resources from local, state and federal sources could be considered a measure. Given the first round of research conducted in 1999, benchmarks exist for future utilization in determining how well the program progresses and more research will be replicated at periodic intervals. Measures might include reduced fractionalization of UF/IFAS identity and trends toward UF/IFAS program branding. Of equal importance, periodic ^Áglistening^Áh sessions may be used to monitor program progress and these sessions could also be utilized to gather and sort anecdotal information on the institutional marketing effort. As a result of the events of September 11, 2001, State of Florida budgets have been slashed to accommodate a $1.3 billion general revenue shortfall. Thus, attraction of resources cannot be considered a valid measure. However, it should be noted that legislators did provide UF/IFAS some reduction relief not afforded other educational institutions in the state by reducing its 2001 budget cuts by more than half the originally proposed amount. On the branding issue, Counties and Centers are appointing "brand" managers who are responsible for unit compliance with the braanding objectives.