Up and running

Rice’s new marketing director brings drive and vision

From shopping enthusiast to former Teddy Graham brand ambassador to marathon runner, Rice’s new director of marketing Robin Meeks is setting a pace toward victory — both at Rice and beyond.

ROBIN MEEKS

A self-styled “novice” runner, Meeks has two marathons medals around her neck, and since arriving in the Bayou City in August, she’s joined a local running group to train for future races.  The Sacramento, Calif., native is already pounding the university pavement and setting her sights on the finish line: “I have a very straight focus and that’s marketing, branding and elevating the name ‘Rice.’”

Meeks spent the last six years at the University of Arizona, where she oversaw marketing and branding efforts for the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Academic Initiatives and Student Success.

Before moving into higher education, Meeks spent more than 15 years developing brand and consumer marketing for companies like Kraft, Kellogg and DIRECTV.   Even then, she was drawn to education. One of the programs she’s most proud of developing is DIRECTV Goes to School, which provides free educational television programming and DIRECTV equipment to any state-accredited K-12 school in the U.S.

“I loved the work, and I thought I’d spend my entire career as a brand manager,” Meeks said. But the opportunity to move into higher education marketing at the University of Arizona, the institution where she had earned her MBA, was too tempting to pass.

“It was a major change for me from developing the brand experience of a $2 box of cookies to developing compelling messages to students and their families on a higher education experience,” Meeks said. “Every time that student is asked or recalls where they went to school, they’re going to remember this experience.”

Another striking difference was the lack of a well-defined brand identity guide at Arizona, which has been commonplace in higher education marketing. “Basically, we were a full-service agency, and we had to develop marketing messages that  resonate with rising juniors, their parents and even underclassmen,” Meeks said.

One appeal about coming to Rice was the already well-established branding and identity standards, she said. Another was working closely with a team of “hands-on” directors and staff members.

“They’re ‘doing’ directors who don’t sit on the sidelines,” Meeks said. “We are all in the trenches, and everyone here shares a strong commitment to our constituents.”

Meeks praised the work accomplished by former marketing director Bill Courtney, who retired in June after six years in Public Affairs. “Bill has created an amazing house, and I’m going to build onto what he has done.”

Vice President for Public Affairs Linda Thrane said Meeks’ marketing efforts will complement Rice Public Affairs work in news and media relations, government relations, community relations, multicultural community relations, Web development and creative services. “Marketing focuses on understanding the targeted audience and the things that are relevant and meaningful to that audience and is another tool to achieve high-quality communications and results,” Thrane said.