Brand Platform
Our brand platform serves to unify our campus. It is the strategic foundation that aligns all university marketing and communication efforts.
The Maryland Brand
Our brand is our reputation, and our reputation means everything. A strong reputation attracts the best students, the best staff and the best faculty. Our brand attracts research funding and drives rankings for our university and our colleges and schools. Our brand drives our university Fearlessly Forward.
As Maryland communicators, our core mission is to enhance the University of Maryland’s reputation as a preeminent public research university, dedicated to serving the public good.
Themes
At the University of Maryland, our brand storytelling elevates our:
- bold research enterprise
- arts, creativity and fearless imagination
- unparalleled student experiences
- diverse, multicultural community
Narrative
The University of Maryland is an extraordinary place.
We are a world-sized classroom, embracing opportunities beyond campus, in D.C., across Maryland and around the globe for students to expand their horizons and perspectives through unparalleled learning experiences.
We are a bold research enterprise, pursuing, discovering and championing new knowledge. Scholars, creators, innovators and dreamers come together here to challenge the past and imagine the future.
We are an incubator for arts exploration that fires our imagination and reveals our shared humanity. We boldly meld the visual and performing arts with science, tech and social justice to tackle grand challenges in fresh ways.
We are a diverse, multicultural community nearly half a million strong, exchanging ideas and making each other stronger and more connected to our state, nation and world.
And we remain an institution of change and progress, united in purpose to Do Good.
Here, the way forward is clear. Fearlessly Forward
Voice and Tone
When we prepare communications, our brand voice is:
- Distinctive
- Relentlessly optimistic
- Confident
- Ambitious
- Purpose-driven
- Bold
- Aspirational
Primary Audiences
Get to know our primary target audiences for marketing and communications efforts, how we are communicating with them and whom to partner with to engage each of these audiences.
Visit the toolkit hub for promotional assets for our campuswide campaigns and initiatives.
| Audience | Marketing and Communications Campaigns | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective students and their families | Terrapin Commitment Now a Terp | Enrollment Management applymaryland@umd.edu |
| Current students | Fearlessly Forward Terps Thrive | Division of Student Affairs studentaffairs@umd.edu |
| Faculty, staff and senior administration | Fearlessly Forward Terrapin Strong | Office of Marketing and Communications omc@umd.edu |
| Alums | Stay Fearless | Alumni Association alumni@umd.edu |
| Engaged donors | Forward: The University of Maryland Campaign for the Fearless | Office of Advancement Communications ur-oac@umd.edu |
| Peer institutions | Shaping the Future of AI Capital of Quantum Arts for All | Office of Marketing and Communications omc@umd.edu |
| Community members | Do Good Campus | Center for Community Engagement thecenter@umd.edu |
Boilerplate
Use the following language on news releases and pull information from it as needed for profiles and other features on the university at large.
The University of Maryland (UMD) is the state's flagship university driven by a community of more than 50,000 fearless Terrapins. As a leading research university and top 20 public institution, UMD is proud to be part of the Association of American Universities. Dedicated to excellence and impact for the public good, the university is propelled by a $1.4 billion joint research enterprise. UMD is the nation’s first Do Good campus, and is consistently ranked for its innovation, research and top-tier academic programs. Located in the National Capital Region, the university offers an unparalleled student experience with federal internship opportunities, hundreds of academic programs and study abroad options, and top-ranked living-learning programs. Spurred by a culture of innovation and creativity, UMD’s faculty are global leaders in their fields and include Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and members of the national academies. For more information about the University of Maryland, College Park, visit umd.edu.
Campaigns & Special Initiatives
Some campuswide marketing and communications efforts have a complementary, but separate visual identity. Use these style guides to understand when, where and how to apply them.