For close to a decade we have had the distinct pleasure of working with one of the most strategic and innovative marketers in the world of higher education. His name, like his risk tolerance is uncommon: Sundar Kumarasamy. He is the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at the University of Dayton, and in addition to being a long-time friend and client of 160over90, he is constantly going against the grain in an industry often riddled with clichés.

But don’t take our word for it.

In addition to being featured in a Forbes article alongside Steve Cannon, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, Sundar, in collaboration with the agency, was also featured by Adobe, discussing our development of the first fully interactive university viewbook iPad application, which utilized Adobe’s digital publishing suite software. And now, The Chronicle of Higher Education has written a feature article documenting his unique and sometimes controversial approach to higher education marketing.

Published on New Year’s Day, highlights from the article include:

The mesmerizing “mission wall” sprang from Mr. Kumarasamy’s head, which may or may not contain humming wires and hot circuits. He’s a fast-thinking marketer who seeks a precious share of teenagers’ attention even as he tries to distinguish his university’s mission, its intangible heart, in a world immersed in shallow slogans.

Case Study UD from Flightphase on Vimeo.

“This could have been a six-figure mistake,” says Sundar Kumarasamy of the custom-built “mission wall” he designed for the U. of Dayton’s welcome center. The wall is meant to convey the importance of community—and to grab teenagers’ famously fleeting attention.

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Imagining a New Brand

Early on, Mr. Kumarasamy hired a Philadelphia-based marketing firm, called 160over90, to help redesign the university’s viewbook, in which photographs of the campus chapel’s ivy-covered walls had long figured prominently. The new version, unveiled in the fall of 2007, was fresh and edgy, full of questions (“Where do you find faith?”), and images striking and strange. Perhaps none was as memorable as the photograph of two bare-shouldered blonde women emblazoned with the question: “Do you know more about Lindsay Lohan than Darfur?”

To say the least, some faculty members and students hated each of the viewbook’s 84 pages. The campus newspaper, the Flyer News, dubbed the publication a “glossy orgy” that reflected poorly on Dayton.

Although the viewbook marked a break with tradition, Mr. Kumarasamy believed that it also expressed—in fresh, bright colors—the university’s Marianist values, which he had studied carefully. A Marianist maxim says “New times call for new methods,” and that has become his own mantra.

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A Changing Campus

As another week begins at Dayton, the fall recruitment cycle is in full swing. On this Monday morning, applications are up by 1,000 over the same date last year.

Since 2002, applications have increased to 11,567 from 7,496. Enrollment of out-of-state students has increased to 48 percent from 35 percent. Average ACT scores are up, and so are retention rates.

All those numbers, Mr. Curran believes, reflect Dayton’s inherent strengths, but he credits Mr. Kumarasamy with finding clever answers to a million-dollar question: “How do you get people to look at you?”

‘We Compete for Memory’

Enrollment management is often described as the balance between marketing and mission. At religious institutions, where morality and social justice are typically everyday concerns, that tension is especially pronounced. Mr. Kumarasamy takes seriously the framed copy of the pledge on his bookshelf; in it, he vowed to remain “spiritually present, alive and open to the call [of] the Marianist charism and mission.”

Still, he is blunt about the necessity of market¬ing muscle. “If you have 10 shops on the same street selling Chinese food,” he says, “how do you think each shop should behave? Unfortunately, it’s an over¬crowded marketplace in this noble industry. If we shouldn’t compete, we should be prepared to go out of business one day.”

Dayton, he believes, owes visitors a unique experience, a feeling they can take with them. “We are living in a time when we compete for memory,” he says of colleges. “If their journey doesn’t begin the moment they first arrive on the campus, when does it begin?”

In Mr. Kumarasamy’s own story lies the enigma of the right fit. He says: “It’s more of a feeling, a silent voice that says, ‘This is where I belong.’ It’s not easily quantifiable. How do you give evidence about falling in love?”

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy09cXwsz6w

I think moments like this deserve more than that.

With “The League of A.W.E.S.O.M.E.” poster, the thinking was to make something more. To look past “expected” and see, well, “awesome.” The superhero-ness of Wilkes’ mascot guided us to the idea of a silver age inspired comic featuring The Colonel and his trusted sidekicks (one representing each of Wilkes’ fields of study and the Athletics department).

18 inches x 36 inches of youth, humor, power, tradition, and community all wrapped in a whole new way to see an acceptance package.

This is to remembering college is fun.
Dorm room walls rejoice!

But truth be told, I couldn’t be bothered to type more than a few sentences—I ate, like, a loaf of breadsticks.

So I’ll leave it at this: we went to Olive Garden for lunch today. The experience was a strange mixture of depressing, amusing, and filling. And because it was Chelsea Brink’s last Friday lunch on the Beast Coast, we took this religiously insensitive picture.

(With apologies to Leonardo da Vinci and God.)

Fast Forward: it’s now 2011. It was a late Monday afternoon when the call from Quiksilver came into our west coast office. They needed help with a last minute project and asked if we could come in the following morning to discuss. We have a long standing relationship with Quik, so we knew it must of been important. We showed up to the office not knowing exactly what was going to be needed. Nothing like last minute, but we were up for whatever curveball tossed our way. Cutting to the chase, apparently Pirate Surf had been shelved in the mid 90’s; the product design and POV had been folded into Quiksilver’s line as a whole. The brand was “shelved” meaning the brand stopped producing product, and ceased distribution, and was basically put away for another day. Well, Quik wanted to bring it back. We were charged with re-animating the brand in preparation for some large meetings the following week. Tic Toc, time’s a ticking, we have one week.

A few additional twists:

1. We needed to make sure the brand could speak year round, a four season offering.
2. We needed to expand beyond just “Surf” – it needed to apply to the culture as a whole, and be accepted in the moto, music, surf, skate, and snow arenas as well.
3. The brand needed to speak to male and female audience
4. At a glance, the brand needed to represent the mainstream general perception of action sport culture and it MUST come across as authentic
5. And finally, it must be a modern day version of Pirate Surf as the days of typical grunge are long gone. So, what does Pirate look like and stand for, both now and for the next 5 plus years?

Before heading back to the office we made a run to the local Trader Joes to pick up some PIRATE’s Booty. We knew that with this time frame, we’d need to maximize our eating efficiencies for the next several days.

We rolled up our sleeves and got right to work. We ran it through our traditional process but modified for speed. We did our homework, both on the history of the brand, its competition, and current market trends given how Quik thought it should be positioned. We developed a very poignant creative brief in one days time, defining target audiences, unique positioning, values, personality, etc.

We launched into full creative mode pulling swipe and inspiration from wherever we could in that short time frame. It was actually quite liberating to work on such a stringent timeline. It was almost like a mini escape and everyone in the office was leaving the team alone for the most part. They were respecting “the code.” The biggest inspiration we had in our arsenal was a book called “Fucked Up and Photocopied” which showcases the “instant art of the punk rock movement.”

We really gravitated to these gems:

We wanted the look and feel to capture the life of this youth culture and energy, with a subtle nod to a Pirate’s life (Pirate to us represented unbridled freedom). We wanted a weathered feel, bold use of color, but a zerox monochromatic look which lent itself to high contrast black and white imagery, almost disheveled but not. Once we honed in on this certain look and had our overarching concept developed, too many sleepless nights began to set in.

Somehow we got a little “Captain” in us. We found ourselves talking like pirates, quoting pirates, discussing the hottest pirate actresses, and best pirate jokes, all the while playing surf videos in the background and skating the hallways late at night. We even earned nicknames along the way, for example, senior designer Justin was known as: “Captain Calico J-Beard”, and senior copywriter Kyle became: “Black Long Dolphin” for which reasons we wont get into (but lets just say it had to do with too much rum and a tattoo parlor).

Ultimately we solved the puzzle and delivered one kick ass brand. We not only delivered a presentation, we took it one step further and fully developed the brand. It was complete with all the trimmings, brand guidelines, packaging, instore, outdoor, gorilla strategies, web templates, and an ad campaign to boot. Quiksilver was set, and Pirate was well Tee’d up for re-launch.

Check out the full case study here and relish in the Pirate life: http://www.160over90.com/
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…and wasn’ really going to post these but what the hell.

A couple of side notes, incase you were wondering:

1. Everybody wants to be a Pirate. Even my 2 year old son. Argh! (he does a great impression, i’m still getting the image)
2. the top pirate quote at least in the office during the time: “… you are without doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of … Ahhh, but you have heard of me…”
3. the top pirate joke: There was a pirate who wore a steering wheel on his belt buckle. One day, a landlubber asked him why. The pirated replied “I don’t know, but it’s drivin’ me nuts.”
4. hottest pirate actress: Penelope Cruz

Just Let Go.

Every new client relationship begins with the phase we call “Discovery.”  It’s the time we spend embedded with the client, gathering as much information as possible about what they do, how they do it and why they do it. Some call this the “Research Phase,” and often times this feels like a better description as we pore through thick binders of data and information and read long, dry company histories. However, as we prepared for a day of touring homes designed by our new client, Michael Ryan Architects, we had no idea that we were about to be reminded as to why we call this phase “Discovery” and how it can be as much about self-discovery as it can be learning about the client.

Our first clue that we needed to check any preconceived notions about what the day may hold was the fact that it was a balmy 77 degrees. And it was mid-February. Next clue: we were given a $165,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG (another client of ours) to test drive for the day.

Our ride.

And we were headed to the beach in Loveladies, NJ, an unspoiled strip of land on Long Beach Island known for a history of experimental architecture. This was indeed one of those moments where you remind yourself that you’re being paid to do this. And you don’t care how trite it sounds.

Heading to work/the beach.

MRA told us to meet them at “Beach Flop”—the first stop on the tour. When we arrived at the stunning beachfront property I believe we all muttered, “Beach Flop?” as if that name could only mean some kind of dusty, thatched-roof, shanty commune. Whereas, in front of us, stood a massive, modern, red structure that looked as if it had been lifted up off the ground by a series of whimsical carjacks. We learned this was done to allow for unobstructed views of the dunes and ocean beyond as you approach the house, giving it an instant geographic context as well as a practical place to park cars and hose off beach chairs. Wonderful. Unexpected. Practical.  Our words of the day were taking shape.

"Beach Flop?"

As we moved through the different spaces, we experienced each house’s overall effect on the mind and body. We listened to the creators speak to why they made the choices they made or how some aspect was not a choice at all, but a fortunate result of being open to possibility. We learned that a house can be both a place of relaxation as well as a place to party. We learned that an old-school diner can have a James Beard award-winning chef behind the grill serving up thick creamy milkshakes, pancakes or famous Barnegat Bay scallops.

Entering the Bayview.

Unexpected Lunch Awesomeness.

Feeling the space.

And we learned that, for Mike Ryan, the creative process is sacred. While touring the final home of an MRA client-turned-friend (as all clients seem to become), Mike pointed to a sculpture on the wall created by the homeowner artist. It was a bright orange life preserver with the words “Let Go” emblazoned across it. Mike pointed at it and said this is what it’s all about. Getting people to get rid of all preconceived notions of what they think they know or like and just being open to the possibility that exists in any creative endeavor, whether you’re designing houses, making music, writing stories, or designing brands. Be informed, be educated, but then let go and let the process take you.

Sometimes the writing is on the wall. And it's good.

We took this advice to heart and designed a new brand and website for the firm that not only tries to convey this concept, but is born of it. We’re also working on a monograph of collected works that will be published later this year. Take a look at our work as well as the inspiring houses designed by MRA and see what happens when you learn to “Unexpect.”

+ In case your garden is lacking something that you.. just can’t put your finger on

+ For the gal looking to avoid the bird flu, without losing her stylish edge

+ We all know how annoying it is to take your sun glasses fully off your head

+ For the man whose pillow is never cold enough

+ And my personal favorite

This past Wednesday, a group of 160over90 believers donned their Sunday best and hoofed it to First Unitarian Church to receive Communion free pretzels and hear Aaron Draplin preach the good word.

With 150 rapt designerds filling the pews, the bearded reverend delivered one hell of a sermon. Topics included: his life story, that one f*cking video, design tall tales, stuff he loves (including sweatpants and America), and stuff he hates (Kid Rock).

The moral of the story: make rad stuff for people you love, and everything else will fall into place.

Amen.