Cornell in New York State Campaign
Demonstrating the critical functions and positive impact of major research universities on their home states.
THE CHALLENGE
When Cornell needed to demonstrate its statewide value, we faced a critical communications opportunity.
Unite
20
Colleges, schools, programs, centers, and institutes
Engage
250
K
NYS residents impacted by Cornell programs
Reach
213
Albany lawmakers and policy influencers with Cornell stories
MY ROLES
As Senior Director of Marketing and Brand Communications for Cornell:
Developed a multi-channel digital awareness strategy, targeting decision-makers.
Coordinated programmatic, newsletter, and streaming audio advertising across premium publications.
Managed campaign optimization and performance reporting across all channels.
Media Strategy
Audience Targeting
Performance Analytics
Publisher Relations
Campaign Optimization
WHAT WE DID
Coordinated efforts across multiple in-house units and external agency partners created a high-performance campaign.
Programmatic Display
1.1M+ impressions targeting Albany lawmakers and Cornell supporters statewide
Website Performance
Drove 4,565 new users to the NYS Impact site with an exceptionally low 2.81% bounce rate - far below the 40-60% higher education industry average
Premium Newsletter Ads
4.5M+ total impressions across Politico NY Pro, Crain's NY Business, City & State, and Times Union.
Newsletter sponsorships in premium publications targeting 2,500+ analysts, researchers, and lobbyists.
12-week campaign from February to May 2023.
Email open rates peaked at 51%.
Top-performing source for engaged visitors (avg. time-on-site 1:01 from Crain's).
ROI: Exceptional targeting precision with 86% of website traffic driven by paid ads.
Campaign Impact
$357M in Cornell's annual economic impact highlighted through strategic messaging about jobs, research funding, and community programs
METRICS
Quant and qual metrics demonstrating campaign success
4.5M+
total impressions
(programmatic display)
2.8%
bounce rate
vs 40-60%
industry average
4,600
new engaged users
86%
website traffic
driven by paid ads
+1 min
average time on site
from top-performing ads
WHY IT MATTERED
This wasn’t just a campaign...
It demonstrated Cornell's vital role in New York's economic future, from research funding to community programs to youth development.
The exceptional 2.81% bounce rate proved our precision targeting reached the right decision-makers.
It established the blueprint for university impact communications at the state level.