Embrace, the University of Evansville’s student-run marketing and communication agency, is celebrating its five-year anniversary this year. The current team of nine is made up of communication, marketing, public health, and cognitive science majors at UE.
Embrace is a Changelab at UE. As an Ashoka U certified campus, the University of Evansville is one of less than 50 schools across the world that are able to provide specialized changelabs for their students.
Changelabs allow students to combine their academics with professional opportunities that allow them to make a difference in the community. Embrace is one of these examples.
Embrace serves a variety of clients with many different services.
Every client project begins with market research. This allows every client’s deliverables to be customized to adequately serve their target audience.
Embrace can create many different deliverables. This can include social media graphics, social media management, website upkeep, the building of a website, blog posts, voiceovers, videos, and more.
Embrace’s client roster is large for a part-time agency such as this. A non-profit hired Embrace to do all the marketing and strategy for an event called EVs for EVV. This event was meant to celebrate electric vehicles in the Evansville community. Embrace created a comprehensive marketing strategy and provided a deep analysis of the target audience.
Next, the deliverables created advertised the event. Embrace even designed the first build board they had ever created for the client. It was displayed on several billboards around the city.
Other clients that Embrace has provided services for includes Bedford Collab, Foster Care in the US, Willard Library, Martial Hearts, and more. Current clients include Circular Venture Lab, Forbes Well-Being Advisors, and even the Wellborn Baptist Foundation.
Embrace’s meeting structure has evolved to become more productive this year. There is a new spreadsheet method that allows team members to understand deliverables and due dates for each client. The time it takes to run through client updates has been cut in half, which allows team members time to work in class times.
Embrace provides many great opportunities for students. In addition to gaining real-world marketing experience working with clients, they also learn valuable workforce development skills like time management, organizational skills, and how to work well on a diverse team. Additionally, meetings through Embrace provide great networking experiences.
Many Embrace graduates have stayed in Indiana, which actively improves the workforce here in the state.
Ultimately, Embrace team members report that their experiences have drastically improved their experiences at the University. Embrace is also a draw for many marketing and communication prospective considering the University of Evansville.