The University of the West Indies has earned two gold awards and one merit award for creativity, marketing execution and message impact in its public education/communication campaigns on climate action and the COVID-19 response. The work was recognised at the 36th Annual Educational Advertising Awards (EduADAwards), announced on March 1, 2021.
The UWI competed in these categories against other top ranked universities such as Johns Hopkins, Emory and University of Toronto, to name a few of this year’s recipients.
Presented by Higher Education Marketing Report, the leading marketing publication for higher education professionals in the US, the EduADAwards is the largest, oldest and most respected educational advertising awards competition in the country. This year, more than 2,000 entries were received from over 1,000 colleges, universities and secondary schools from around the globe.
Commenting on the announcement, Director of University Marketing and Communications (UM&C) Dr Rhonda Jaipaul-O’Garro said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to have earned these two gold awards and one merit award, in pursuit of advancing our UWI brand as a global activist university in areas of critical importance—climate action and COVID-19 response.”
Judged by a national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, marketing and advertising professionals, the UM&C’s 2020 work on a Leading Climate Action Special Report won a gold award in the e-Publication category. The UWI COVID-19 Task Force website, which was also conceptualised and managed by the Office, secured gold in the COVID Response Materials category, while the Leading Climate Advocacy and Action website received a special merit award in the Website category.
The Leading Climate Action Special Report features the university’s research, teaching, advocacy, sustainable practices, and regional and international partnerships in support of the climate action agenda, reinforces the university’s centrality in the global agenda of sustainable development and particularly the science behind an urgent response to climate change. The complementary website repository bolsters the public advocacy/policy programme for climate change, particularly from the Caribbean perspective.
The UWI COVID-19 Task Force Website is an asset in the outreach programme of The UWI COVID-19 Task Force, formed in February 2020, to bring together The University's knowledge and experts to assist the Caribbean in its response to the virus outbreak. The Task Force website provides resources and regular updates, all relevant to the Caribbean’s response to the pandemic, to actively counter misinformation and speculation.
