University Communications and Marketing Impact Report

To ensure our primary channel, The Piper, delivers maximum impact, we executed a complete redesign in 2024. Our strategy wasn't based on guesswork; it was informed by hard data, leveraging reader surveys and engagement metrics to drive the change. The result is a sharper visual identity, a refined, high-impact editorial strategy, and the integration of a powerful UTM link tracking system. This comprehensive overhaul was an immediate success: we saw the clickthrough rate soar from 4.38% to a commanding 6%. This performance provides us with the deep audience insights necessary for continuous optimization, proving we are proactive experts in audience engagement.

Surprisingly, our audience joined us in this love for analytics. The project revealed our most clicked topic was Data Analytics.
 

6% Click Through Rate, an increase from 4% in the previous year.

To gain a comprehensive, real-time understanding of our brand’s standing, we strategically deployed Meltwater, a powerful media and social intelligence platform. This system centralizes brand monitoring, social listening, and sentiment analysis, giving us an unprecedented, unified view of our presence. Our focus now is on scalability: we are working aggressively to expand this crucial tool to every CMU school and college. This ensures every campus partner is empowered to effectively monitor, analyze, and strategically manage their own online reputation, cementing our role as proactive partners in institutional success.
 

This tool enables us to monitor exciting metrics like our Share of Voice in topics like Artificial Intelligence. Share of Voice indicates our brand's visibility and awareness across various channels, such as social media mentions, paid advertising, and organic search results.

Our division strategically managed communications for the inaugural AI Horizons Summit, which served as a major platform to amplify CMU's brand association with leadership in AI.
 

The summit showcased human-first AI commercialization and prominently featured a ceremonial signing with Governor Josh Shapiro, CMU President Farnam Jahanian, and NVIDIA's federal VP to announce a joint research center.
 

Our multi-faceted mar-comm strategy—including owned media that produced a top-10 read story, live social coverage, and collaborative media relations around the signing—was designed to earn widespread recognition for CMU's pivotal role in driving the future of AI.
 

The team secured and placed expert interviews with Michael Mattarock II (CyLab) on WPXI's "Our Region's Business" and Valerie Karplus (College of Engineering) on WTAE.

4,861 AI Horizon Story Views

In the summer of 2025, our team was tasked with developing a high-stakes recruitment tool for fall admissions: a new travel brochure that demands attention. The resulting twelve-page piece, entitled “Weave Your Future,” is a masterclass in design and messaging. It immediately delivers a powerful vision, using a heartfelt tug to invite the reader to envision themselves as part of the unique fabric of CMU. We lead with the core declaration: “At Carnegie Mellon University, interdisciplinary is our way of life and collaboration is our nature.”

Our social media strategy is defined by proactive agility, not simply reaction.

The Social Media Team expertly identified a strategic window of opportunity: capitalizing on the cultural buzz surrounding the Severance finale. Recognizing the show's focus on memory, Jordan swiftly connected with neuroscience expert Allison Barth to produce a timely, authoritative video.

The execution was immediate and impactful. 

The content was so well-received that the show's star, Adam Scott, reacted to the post on Instagram. This organic validation led to an even bigger win: Adam Scott and Ben Stiller, hosts of one of America's most popular podcasts centered on Severance, reached out to interview Dr. Barth. This success story proves our team does more than manage feeds—we strategically insert our experts into the cultural conversation, leading to unparalleled visibility and influence.

This video has been named a Gold Winner in the Education Digital Marketing Awards, recognized in the category of Branded Content & Entertainment for Online/Interactive.
 

1.2 Million Views
 

Now in its 10th year, members of the CMU community have created new arrangements of "Auld Lang Syne" to honor the school's Scottish roots. The 2025 rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" is an exciting example of the power of collaboration, featuring two classes within Carnegie Mellon University. The visual footage showcases the “Date in A Teeter” exhibit developed by Dietrich College's Animated Storytelling course. The audio rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" was developed by the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music’s Exploded Ensemble class. These groups worked together to create an innovative approach that pairs visual elements with a modern take on the classic song. Production for this video entailed close collaboration with various people involved to coordinate the multiple shoots, music recording, and post-production needs

Crisis, emergency, reputation and issues management are distinct but interconnected functions within UCM and across Carnegie Mellon which are focused on protecting the physical safety of the campus community and safeguarding the CMU brand and credibility. We refined a new crisis communications protocol in FY25 which sharpened our ability to respond with speed and clarity. The protocol, including an on-call screening team, aligns units and departments to better anticipate and successfully navigate emerging issues. 

Full page print ads — The New York Times and The Chronicle
 

Our partnership with CaPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) was nothing short of a massive, mission-critical brand investment. This was not merely decoration; this was a strategic opportunity to firmly associate the CMU brand with genuine care for our students' mental and physical well-being. The design team completely transformed the new Highmark building space, delivering an environmental sanctuary that is profoundly suited for counseling. We intentionally engineered an atmosphere that welcomes, comforts, and supports—from the warm color palette and thoughtful branding to the impactful wall art.

A particular highlight is the grounding exercise installation across five custom wood panels. This feature is a powerful anchor, intentionally designed to calm a stressed mind and immediately create a peaceful waiting experience—a detail we implemented based on direct clinical feedback.

This successful overhaul required significant expertise: we delivered seven custom, high-impact pieces, investing 72.5 hours in meticulous project management, multiple rounds of conceptual design, revisions, production-ready files, and installation oversight. Most critically, we approached this project as a bold re-design, permanently retiring their previous "outdated and stale" aesthetic. We replaced the obsolete with the essential, setting a new standard for campus environments that prioritize student health.

The 2025 CMU Anthem TV Spot was a masterclass in strategic production, designed to exponentially expand brand awareness. We moved the CMU brand into a new, crucial territory by running this spot on both cable and streaming platforms for the very first time. This aggressively expanded our visibility to a critical, previously unengaged audience.

UCM partnered with powerful brands like The New York Times as part of a deliberate strategy to shift CMU’s reputation from a humble academic powerhouse to a globally recognized leader in solving real-world challenges. By collaborating with the New York Times the teams could bypass traditional academic silos and present our complex research directly to influential decision-makers, alumni, and peers in a compelling, narrative-driven format. This coordinated effort not only generated massive awareness but tangibly impacted the university's reputation, positioning CMU as the "birthplace of innovation" and directly linking its research to societal impact.

Read Healing With Intelligence Story

 

41% increase in applications from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024

Carnegie Mellon's 2014 partnership with The Tony Awards, as the exclusive higher education sponsor of the Excellence in Theatre Education Award (EITEA), powerfully demonstrates our academic excellence and leadership. This collaboration, recognizing exceptional K-12 theatre educators (ninth winner in 2025), significantly strengthens CMU's arts education reputation. It dramatically elevates visibility for our College of Fine Arts, School of Drama, and the entire university, directly benefiting students and faculty through enhanced engagement and global recognition, solidifying our position as a premier global higher education institution.
 

Associated Press Coverage:
Carnegie Mellon Alumnae Earn Two 2025 Tony Awards®
 

Story:
Excellence in Theatre Education Award
 

Video:
Watch 2025 Excellence in Theatre Education Award Winner

We scored interview time with CMU Alumnus, Tony Award winner and Hamilton star Leslie Odom, Jr.

The interview touched on the timely news that he would be returning to his original Hamilton role on Broadway in September as well as his preparation for the 10th anniversary Tonys performance.

The video was shared on the official Hamilton Instagram account with a reach of 2.1 million followers.

The world changes fast. We change faster.

While our "Where What If Becomes What's Next" campaign was in full swing, we saw an opportunity and seized it. We shifted our focus to research impact and launched "Work that Matters"—a powerful evolution that became our guiding light. 

Research impact didn't just influence our work—it defined it. Every marketing and communications effort for the rest of the year pointed toward one goal: showcasing the work that changes lives. Read more about Where Research Gets to Work.

To strengthen collaboration and ensure broad visibility of CMU’s research impact, we launched thematic working groups as part of the Work That Matters campaign. These small, cross-campus groups — each aligned to a flagship research theme — bring together communicators and other partners from across colleges and units. Meeting quarterly, they share story leads, align on campaign priorities and provide early visibility into emerging research.

The model leverages CMU’s distributed communications network while reducing siloes, creating strong connections across disciplines and building a steady pipeline of high-impact research content. Participants gain value by staying connected to institutional strategy, while UCM ensures consistent, compelling storytelling.

Visit Work That Matters

Expanding the Reach of CMU Research

In late FY25, CMU renewed its partnership with The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization that works with academics to publish research-based analysis for the general public. The collaboration provides access to a platform whose stories are republished in hundreds of outlets, significantly expanding the reach and influence of our faculty’s work globally, while also helping our faculty and graduate students become more effective public scholars.