University of British Columbia awards DDB Canada two new assignments

Agency to provide strategic counsel for awareness campaign & develop new fundraising, alumni communications

VANCOUVER, Aug. 16 /CNW/ - Further strengthening their relationship, the University of British Columbia (UBC) has selected DDB Canada's Vancouver office for two distinct assignments.  DDB Canada was awarded both new assignments after a thorough and competitive pitch process involving a number of agencies earlier this summer.

"We are proud to grow our relationship with UBC and help build their brand as one of the most consistently top-ranked research institutions in the world," says Patty Jones, VP client services director, DDB Canada, Vancouver.  "Each assignment has its own set of challenges, which we are excited to tackle." 

For the first assignment, DDB Canada will offer strategic brand counsel for UBC's existing awareness campaign.  The campaign has been designed to raise UBC's profile and reputation as a tier one, research-intensive institution and to instill a greater sense of affinity, pride and connection to UBC amongst local, national and international audiences.

DDB Canada and OMD Vancouver will work together to provide strategic media planning and buying, creative insight, as well as develop a social media strategy to raise brand awareness amongst key influencers.  The brand awareness campaign will be in market September 2010 across Canada, and will extend to international markets in 2011.

"We were impressed by the strong strategic approach DDB Canada took when developing our campaign to recruit international students to UBC, and we're pleased to extend our working relationship with them on this brand building campaign," says Scott Macrae, executive director of Public Affairs, UBC.

For the second assignment, DDB Canada has been selected to develop new fundraising and alumni engagement communications.  This integrated effort will rely on a range of traditional and non-traditional media strategies to encourage financial donations and active participation from UBC's 260,000 alumni in the life of UBC, whether in Vancouver, the Okanagan or across the world.  

"We've set ambitious goals for the next five years and we were particularly impressed by the social media strategies DDB presented to engage our many constituents," says Richard Fisher, chief communications officer of Development and Alumni Engagement, UBC.

DDB Canada's partner agency, OMD Vancouver was selected to handle the media planning and buying.

In February 2009, UBC selected DDB Canada to develop online and offline recruitment materials for UBC's International Student Initiative, which included social, interactive, digital, print and design work.

About the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (www.ubc.ca) is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions, and one of only two Canadian institutions to be consistently ranked among the world's 40 best universities. Surrounded by the beauty of the Canadian West, it is a place that inspires bold, new ways of thinking that have helped make it a national leader in areas as diverse as community service learning, sustainability and research commercialization. Located in the Pacific Rim gateway of Vancouver, one of the world's great cities, and in the Interior city of Kelowna, it offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative programs in the arts, sciences, medicine, law, commerce and other faculties. UBC attracts more than $450 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry through 7,000 grants. UBC is Canada's acknowledged university leader in sustainability and community service learning. The university is host to internationally renowned cultural institutions including the Museum of Anthropology, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and the UBC Botanical and Nitobe Gardens.  UBC has more than 260,000 alumni worldwide.  

About DDB Canada
Named Strategy's 2009 Agency of the Year and Top Creative Agency, DDB Canada (www.ddbcanada.com) is the most creatively acclaimed, internationally recognized marketing communications agency in Canada. Known for advertising that generates significant results for clients, DDB Canada is a "total communications company" whose fundamental belief is that creativity is the most powerful force in business. DDB Canada has offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. The agency's integrated groups include: DDB Kid Think (youth marketing), DDB Public Relations, Tribal DDB (online and interactive), Karacters Design Group, Rapp Collins (direct), Radar DDB (social media marketing) and DDB Hodes Recruitment Communications (recruitment marketing).

For further information:

or interviews please contact:
Paige Calvert
DDB Canada
604-608-4421
[email protected]