A moment of connection between generations of Buckeyes

Four projects recognized for CASE V excellence

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education District V recognized four projects created by Ohio State’s Office of Marketing and Communication with its Best of CASE V recognition. The honored projects represent a wide range of the office’s excellence and highlighted key strategic areas of influence for the institution. Those awards included ones in photography, writing, web design and communications strategy.

Individual Photographs: A moment of connection between Buckeyes

Ohio State ROTC’s annual Rock Ceremony, honoring all Ohio State veterans, traces its roots back to an Armistice Day event in 1919. The challenge with an annual military event is finding something different each time, and the difference invariably lies in the people. Ohio State photographer Logan Wallace passed the man in the OSU jacket as he made his way to the ceremony, alone, and she was able to capture a few photos of him with other veterans during the event. As everyone dispersed ROTC instructor CPT Brian Boyle saw the man could use a little help, maybe a little company, and joined him for his walk back across campus. The photographer recognized the scene as a moment of allegiance, warm regard and a timeless bond between veterans and generations.

Ohio State is consistently named a top veteran-friendly school in both US News & World Report and the Military Times. While the goal of our social media channels is to increase affinity and inspire choice of Ohio State among our various audiences, the nominated photo did an excellent job of capturing the caring community that naturally exists between alumni and current students and did so by accurately reflecting all aspects of our brand positioning.

Entry contributor: Photographer Logan Wallace

Communications Initiatives: Intel partners with Ohio State for factory announcement

Ohio State worked to obtain national, statewide and local media coverage for a once-in-a-generation announcement: Intel’s decision to invest $20 billion in construction of two chip factories in Licking County, Ohio. In addition to the construction investment, Intel also pledged $50 million in partnerships with state educational institutions to build a jobs and training pipeline. We positioned Ohio State as a representative for higher education around Ohio and across the Midwest and coordinated our president’s participation in the announcement press conference. As a result, Ohio State was given center focus in much of the announcement and subsequent media coverage. Our media relations office alone published eight stories in as many months about partnership and investments. We earned additional coverage around the state and were featured in the Time exclusive story about the announcement.

Entry contributors: Chris Booker, Chris Bournea, Joe Camoriano, Ben Johnson, Franny Lazarus, Aaron Nestor

Websites (Institutional): Ohio State’s osu.edu web redesign

To conduct its first institutional website redesign in nearly 10 years, Ohio State turned to an internal team within its Office of Marketing and Communications to conduct a thorough process that led to an improved web experience for the site’s numerous audiences. That team embarked on a process aiming to provide enhancements in four key areas: Improve site user interface (UI) to better align with Ohio State’s brand identity; Improve user experience (UX) for mobile users; Increase time users spend within the osu.edu ecosystem; and improve search experience for users. Since relaunching osu.edu in July 2022, we’ve achieved success in all areas. Comparing data over the same time periods since we launched, users are engaging with the site more, staying within our ecosystem longer and using our more robust search feature almost twice as often as they were previously.

Entry contributors: Chuck Agin, Elaine Armbruster, Jacob Carozza, Kelli Chesler, Arnell Damasco, Monica DeMeglio, Brian Foley, Kari Fox, Jay Hansen, Ryan Judy, Pat Kastner, Tom Knox, Lauren Kulik, Diane Meves, Ken Phillips, Stacie Rose, Chad Rutan, Rebecca Sullivan, Stacy Wood

Writing (Profile): The courage of Dr. Christina Knight – Ohio State Alumni Magazine

Ohio State Alumni Magazine is a quarterly publication produced in partnership between The Ohio State University Alumni Association and the Office of Marketing and Communications. This story, which was included in the fall 2022 edition, introduced readers to Dr. Christina Knight, a young woman who found her purpose helping underserved communities. After her residency at Ohio State, Knight moved to Chinle, Arizona, for a fellowship in Navajo Nation. The reservation struggles with poverty, addiction, poor health and limited medical care. The story of how Knight helps this community is not simple. At first, the young doctor felt overwhelmed and ineffective. But like the people there, she found strength through struggle and is making a genuine difference. Demonstrating this required helping readers feel present and invested. Writer Todd Jones accomplished this through descriptive storytelling, narrative structure and extensive interviewing, giving Knight, her family and teachers, and Navajo sources enough comfort to open up. He and a photographer traveled to Knight’s hometown and then to Arizona while COVID-19 swirled. The effort ensured the story showed the need there, avoided stereotyping and drew a realistic picture of Knight’s experience. Our goal was to share Ohio State’s impact, and that meant reflecting the reality: It can be really hard to do good.

Entry contributors: Jenny Applegate, Mary Alice Casey, Todd Jones, Pat Kastner, Logan Wallace