Market Research for WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Situation: Today’s youth have misconceptions about the agricultural industry and a lack of awareness about opportunities in the field. Given this, Davis College wanted to promote its agricultural opportunities to prospective students in more relevant and meaningful ways. They also wanted to understand how the college is perceived, as well as learn how to improve its brand and communication messages for prospective students.

Results: Based on the information obtained from online surveys conducted with younger alumni, older alumni and current students of Davis College, we were able to understand the college’s perceived strengths and brand personality and identify compelling messaging that focuses on its brand essence: mentoring/close knit/ hands-on/multidisciplinary. This insight was utilized to create a new viewbook, help redesign the college’s website and develop better communication strategies to reach students.