Last modified: Wednesday, October 8, 2008
IU, Purdue use YouTube spot to highlight Indiana Innovation Alliance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 8, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University and Purdue University may be oil and water when it comes to athletics, but thanks to the Indiana Innovation Alliance, an effort to foster life sciences research and partnerships throughout Indiana, they're more like . . . Indiana corn and butter. Persimmons and pudding. YouTube and viral marketing.
A new, 30-second YouTube video, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp2F5i2lpoI and on the Indiana Innovation Alliance Web site (at https://www.indianainnovationalliance.org/news.html) expresses the partnership in a humorous tone that gets the point across: IU and Purdue are actually working together. The spot hints at a new, research-based collaboration between the two powerhouse universities that will ultimately result in better health and more jobs in the state.
A screen shot from the new IU-Purdue YouTube video to promote the Indiana Innovation Alliance.
Bill Stephan, vice president for engagement at IU, said the video -- which pairs quirky graphics and hand-drawn sketches with a humorous voice over -- is designed to heighten awareness of the Alliance and highlight the collaboration between the two universities. "We're trying to take advantage of emerging communications trends and technology to communicate what we think is an important message to a range of stakeholders," Stephan said.
"The Alliance allows us to optimize the research capacity that exists at both Indiana University and Purdue University in core strategic areas and at the same time, bring an advantage to the state's economic prospects in both the biosciences and life sciences arenas," Stephan said.
In this video, viewers won't be saddled with a lengthy explanation of the Alliance or the life sciences, said Victor L. Lechtenberg, Purdue's vice provost for engagement.
"It is simply meant to create a little buzz about an unprecedented partnership," Lechtenberg said.
The video was created by staff in the IU Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations, with input from Purdue colleagues. Both universities have developed concept papers, presentations, a Q and A, a Web site and a brochure about the Alliance. A series of op-eds are in the works. The YouTube video is a way to get the word out to a diverse audience before rolling out the rest of the public relations campaign.
"We want to convey the message that by Purdue and IU working together, the entire state will benefit," Lechtenberg said. "We have a diverse set of stakeholders in this, from state government, agencies and organizations to business investors to researchers and even to upcoming students and a work force that could benefit. So we're reaching out in many different ways."
The video -- which may be the first in a series -- is a fun, low-budget clip that expresses the essence of the project through humor and the campaign's theme: "Building the Indiana Innovation Alliance, to create better health and more jobs . . . for all of us."
For more information about the Indiana Innovation Alliance, see https://www.indianainnovationalliance.org/index.html.
