Baylor on Full Display During Bowl Appearance in Orlando
University launches advertising campaign to showcase Baylor brand throughout central Florida
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
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Follow Baylor Media Communications on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia
WACO, Texas (Dec. 21, 2015) – As the Baylor University football team makes its sixth consecutive bowl appearance and first in Florida, Baylor Nation also will take center stage, cheering on the Bears at the Russell Athletic Bowl Dec. 29 in Orlando.
The Baylor brand itself likewise will be highly visible – on billboards and in newspaper, digital, television and radio ads running throughout Orlando and central Florida from before the bowl game through the end of the year.
“Our highly anticipated and very visible presence in the Russell Athletic Bowl provides a distinct opportunity for us to build institutional brand and, in some cases, introduce Baylor, its strong academic programs and distinct Christian mission to Floridians and visiting football fans who may not be familiar with the full profile of Baylor University,” said John M. Barry, vice president for marketing and communications and chief marketing officer at Baylor.
Baylor’s advertising is based on the university’s emphasis on the journey to find one’s calling in life. The Called To campaign highlights the various ways students and faculty find their calling at Baylor, whether at the cutting edge of scientific discovery; in ministry in the remotest parts of the world; through leadership in law, engineering, the arts or medicine; or service in their community.
“People don’t come to Baylor simply to work or to prepare for future work. Finding one’s calling is a hallmark of a Baylor education and experience, and something that transcends the classroom to transform lives,” Barry said.
The billboards and print, digital, radio and television ads center on these themes:
- • Called to Inspire, which focuses on how the university’s alumni share the mission to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others
• Called to Service, which highlights Baylor’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, the nation’s first collegiate Habitat chapter, and the university’s broader emphasis on serving those in need
• Called to Discovery, which focuses on the university’s research into discovering evidence-based solutions to the world’s most pressing problems
• Called to Leadership, which expresses how teaching and discovery, fact and faith, professors and students all work together to pursue knowledge with a purpose
Tying into the “Called To” theme is Baylor’s institutional commercial that debuted earlier this fall on ESPN. The TV ad underscores an important characteristic of a Baylor education: the presence of caring faculty among Baylor’s nearly 17,000 students.
Over the past decade, Baylor has steadily grown its student population from the Sunshine State. In fall 2005, Baylor enrolled 88 students who call Florida home. In fall 2015, the university’s enrollment of Florida students has jumped 81 percent to 159 students.
More than 2,100 Baylor alumni currently live in Florida, including prominent Baylor graduates Ed Crenshaw, B.B.A. ’73, CEO of Publix Super Markets, and Stephanie Young, B.B.A. ’86, senior vice president of Disney Parks and Resorts. Three members of Baylor’s fourth-ranked women’s basketball team hail from Florida – McDonald’s High School All-Americans senior Alexis Prince, B.A. ’15, of Orlando’s Edgewater High School, senior Niya Johnson, B.S.Ed. ’15, of Gainesville’s P.K. Yonge Development Research School and freshman Beatrice Mompremier, who played at Miami Senior High School.
Baylor has a history of advertising heavily in bowl game host cities, such as Houston (Texas Bowl), San Antonio (Valero Alamo Bowl), San Diego (Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl), Phoenix (Tostitos Fiesta Bowl) and Dallas (Good Year Cotton Bowl).
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.