The University of the West Indies’ 75th anniversary launch campaign has earned ‘gold’ at the AVA Digital Awards. This international competition recognises outstanding work by creative professionals in digital communication.

AVA Digital Awards bestowed The UWI’s “Rooted Ready Rising” campaign with the honour at the 17th annual edition of the awards in the ‘Social Campaign, Digital Marketing’ category for special anniversary event communication products.

Kicking off the awareness of The UWI’s 75th anniversary celebrations, the digital campaign included the reveal of the anniversary theme, logo and a video launch package. The development of a three-pronged theme ‘UWI @ 75. Rooted. Ready. Rising.’ gave equal emphasis to three essential aspects—celebration, reflecting upon The UWI’s historical journey and all it has achieved in the last 75 years; inspiration, articulating the essence of what The UWI means and represents to the Caribbean community; and aspiration: expressing The UWI’s forward-focused journey.

It’s the second Gold AVA Digital Award for The UWI, having won the global accolade for redesigning the University’s central website, www.uwi.edu in 2022.

The University Marketing and Communications Office, responsible for the institutional promotion of the regional academy, led both the 75th anniversary launch campaign and the website redesign projects. The 75th anniversary logo, and the anniversary launch videos were all developed by in-house talent.

Among the 2023 Gold Awards winners are global brand heavyweight creative and marketing teams such as Al Jazeera Media Institute, AT&T Business Multimedia Services, Hewlett Packard Enterprise – Creative Services Team, McKinsey Global Publishing, and NBCUniversal.

Commenting on the international recognition, University Director, Marketing & Communications,

Dr. Rhonda Jaipaul-O’Garro said, “In addition to our innovative and creative marketing and branding strategies, this award acknowledges the hard work and dedication of our system-wide marketing and communication teams at the Vice Chancellery and across our campuses. We at The UWI have proven our capability to create powerful and compelling brand stories as a global brand of excellence by winning this award.”

University Registrar, Dr. Maurice D. Smith who served as Chair of the Central Planning Committee for the 75th anniversary celebrations noted, “As the curtains close on the yearlong celebrations, and news comes of this award, I am delighted that our University Marketing and Communications Team has once again been recognised for its excellence and diligence. This award certainly serves to underscore the expertise that not only is theirs but also the University's given its invaluable contrbution to the region and beyond. I am sure my colleagues are encouraged and remain even further committed to serving with the distinction for which they are known.”

The annual AVA Digital Awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), one of the oldest, largest, and most respected evaluators of creative work in the marketing and communication industry. Work ranges from digital campaigns to audio and video production, website development, social media engagement, and mobile marketing.