Michigan State University

MSU connects brand with enhanced web experiences.

It’s early fall and a bright-eyed, ambitious student walks across the freshly cut grass of the Michigan State University campus. The school is more than 165 years old, but this is a new experience for her. An experience that started more than a year earlier as she seamlessly navigated across multiple MSU websites that provided her the information and inspiration she needed for arguably the biggest decision of her life. It was that experience that first powerfully connected her to the brand and motivated her to become a Spartan.

Services

Platform Strategy
XM Cloud Implementation
Optimization Services
Personalization
Data Analytics

Sitecore | Netlify

The Opportunity

For Michigan State University, the ability to meet the digital needs of its audiences while maintaining its storied brand essence is a challenge. One amplified by the decentralized nature of Higher Education, with colleges and departments forging their own path with various marketing tools, the byproduct of which is websites that create disparate experiences as audiences navigate along their respective digital journey. As part of a transformative initiative led by MSU’s central marketing and communications team, RDA was enlisted to help realize the vision for a more cohesive digital experience for MSU’s audiences, with modern, centrally managed technologies that allow marketers to focus on content and strategy.

Key elements of MSU's vision

Delivering an authentic brand experience
Improving audience journeys
Creating a consistent content taxonomy
Migrating to a modern architecture
Creating a single component library
Streamlining the content authoring experience

Completed Admission RFI forms

2X

Projected cost savings

60%

The Vision

Creating a unified digital experience that inspires prospective students, students and alumni to connect more deeply with MSU in a highly decentralized environment is no small feat. In fact, some said it couldn’t be done. The team at MSU had a bold vision – implement an enterprise digital experience platform using an audience-first, research-informed approach, wrap a digital experience program around it, and involve marketers in the process to co-create the solution and establish ownership. RDA partnered with MSU to drive their digital transformation with a strategy-first approach. This involved developing a comprehensive marketing technology roadmap, auditing user experiences across multiple websites, and refining consolidated wireframes and designs. A cross-functional Agile team was established to manage component conversions, API integration, content migration automation, and ongoing maintenance. By leveraging expertise in Agile project management, UX, visual design, software development, and content strategy, both organizations collaborated to deliver a unified and optimized digital experience.

Victory is in the air

While the initiative is still ongoing, MSU has continued executing from their roadmap and is making significant progress. Dozens of departments are exploring this new digital experience offering and enlisting in the program. Early adopters are seeing benefits such as a reduction in the time from initiation to launch of new websites, a reduction in cost due to an extensive component library, streamlined interface for authoring content, and access to a team of experts focused on continuous optimization. Most importantly, MSU is proving that decentralized, higher-education institutions can benefit from teaming together to create best-in-class digital experiences for their audiences and preserve a brand, legacy, and tradition that has been 165 years in the making.

“ Most universities present themselves online as a collection of separate departments and expect audiences to make sense of the disjointed digital experience they have created. We believe digital experiences in Higher Education don’t have to be that way. We are striving to create a cohesive, unified digital experience that delivers on MSU’s incredible brand promise. RDA is helping make this vision a reality. ”

Carmen Crist Assistant Vice President - Exec Management