After a lengthy review process, which included participation and input from a review group of faculty and staff from the Hickory, Asheville and Columbia campuses, Lenoir-Rhyne has selected BarkleyREI from Pittsburgh, Pa. for the redesign of LR.edu.
About BarkleyREI
Founded in 1998, BarkleyREI is a full-service digital agency specializing in higher education marketing. In their two decades of experience in higher education, they have successfully completed dozens of enterprise website redesign engagements, launched countless digital marketing campaigns and have provided strategic consulting and marketing guidance for 125+ colleges and universities.
BarkleyREI clients have achieved unprecedented results—raising brand awareness, driving year-over-year enrollment, dramatically improving profiles and rankings, modernizing and future-proofing their online presence and much more.
BarkleyREI employs 45+ full-time professionals in their Pittsburgh office who possess deep experience in their respective fields, from user experience design to content strategy to interactive design to programming and more.
Roster of Current & Recent Clients
- Bridgewater College
- Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz College
- Goucher College
- Hampden Sydney College
- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, School of Science
- Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
- Michigan State University
- Millersburg University
- Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
- Saint Ambrose University
- Saint Bonaventure University
- Salisbury University
- Shippensburg University
- UC Berkeley School of Engineering
- UC Irvine Office of Undergraduate Admissions
- UC Irvine School of Medicine
- UCLA Law School
- University of Louisville, College of Engineering
- University of Texas, Austin – McCombs School of Business
- University of Virginia, Curry School of Education
- University of Virginia, Darden School of Business
- University of Virginia, School of Architecture
- University of Virginia, School of Engineering
BarkleyREI’s parent company, Barkley, is one of the largest, employee-owned advertising agencies in the U.S. Collectively, they employ 400+ advertising and marketing professionals from locations in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York City and Boulder. Barkley is also considered a Lead Agency by Forrester (top four nationally). Forrester cites Barkley as a “top match for brands that need unique campaign experiences explicitly designed for a younger consumer.”
Barkley has also published three books focused on marketing to Millennials and Gen Z— “Marketing to Millennials”, “Millennials with Kids” and “Marketing to Gen Z”. They’ve been researching these important generational audiences since 2010, studying their behaviors, their mindsets, their special characteristics—and the similarities to other consumers who came before them.
Next Steps
We are working with BarkleyREI to finalize our contract, statement of work, project schedule and other details. Once finalized we will work with BarkleyREI to plan project discovery, which will have them engage with members of the campus community. Project discovery will occur sometime over the summer or early fall.
Given the current COVID-19 pandemic we may need to adjust our expectations of doing on-campus discovery and workshops and do more virtual sessions and workshops.
Selection Process
A request for proposal (RFP) was sent in February to nine vendors, all of whom have extensive experience working with higher education institutions as well as in other industry verticals, including healthcare, travel and tourism, nonprofits, governmental, among others.
Four vendors were selected in late March to formally present their proposals to the LR faculty and staff review group via video conference and to respond to specific priorities outlined in the RFP. BarkleyREI was among two vendor finalists who stood out from the others based on their presentation, their experience with similar projects, their project approach, and their focus on user experience and content strategy.
Faculty & Staff Review Group
A big thank you to the faculty and staff who assisted in the review of vendor finalists. Your questions and perspectives informed our review and selection process and we are grateful for your work.
- Cat Niekro, VP for Institutional Advancement
- Kelli Barnette, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Director of Undergraduate Admission
- Lisa Crawford, Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications, Project Management
- Dr. Michael Dempsey, Dean and Director of the Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville, Deputy Coordinator of Title IX
- Dr. Devon Fisher, Professor, English, Director of Center for Teaching and Learning
- Carla Fowler, Director, Lohr Learning Commons & Academic Support Programs, Coordinator, Student Engagement
- Doug Minor, Associate Vice President for Digital Strategy (Marketing and Communications)
- Katie Wohlman, Assistant Dean of Students, Director of Career and Professional Development
- Dr. Amy Wood, Assistant Provost, Dean of Graduate and Adult Education, Professor of Counseling, Faculty Representative of Athletics
- Deborah Slice, Administrative Associate for Academics, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (Columbia, S.C.)
