Goal 5: Build brand community relationships with our constituents.

Goal 5 reflects the aspiration that UAHuntsville should actively seek a growing and vibrant relationship with our customers. To do this, UAHuntsville must establish a sense of place through building Brand Communities. Our research customers, prospective and current students, and Alumni should be drawn together through common values and goals that are sustained through the brand.

A brand community must provide the following:

• A means of involvement
• Motivation for involvement
• Organizations that become self-sustaining

Athletics, student organizations, campus student events, organized campus Alumni events, and informal locations for spontaneous community interaction are some examples of involvement that builds a sense of place.

Sense of Place

"Those characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging."
-Wikipedia, “Sense of Place”

"The development of Brand Communities explains 30-40% of consumer loyalty and has a large influence on brand choice. Satisfied and engaged consumers will feel positive about their belonging to a brand that involves its customers. Our ability to market our uniqueness – those qualities that draw people together here depends strongly on this aspect of branding."
-Dr. Tim Landry, UAHuntsville Associate Professor of Marketing

Engaged and successful students become loyal and giving Alumni, who produce future engaged and successful prospective students.

The committee recommends that integrated communication and marketing can be utilized to assist in building a sense of place.

Recommendation example- UAHuntsville student life and entertainment organizations must understand integrated marketing in order to be successful. Organizations must:

• Plan at least six to eight months out in order to have the required time to properly advertise the event. Create common semester activity advertising vehicles.
• Coordinate campus activity calendars – do not compete with each other for student and community audiences.
• Integrate campus activity advertising – purposefully advertise movies at basketball games, soccer at comedy shows, and concerts at theatrical performances. Everyone must work together in order for a sense of student campus activity is community.