A framework for building more inclusive marketing and communications content

Generation Z is more diverse and more socially conscious than any prior generation. As a result, universities must prioritise diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in order to successfully attract young people to their communities. As stewards of the university's brand and the lens through which prospective community members are introduced to the institution, marketing and communications teams have a special responsibility to authentically represent DEI through all aspects of their work. As a Catholic university with a conviction of creating ‘a vibrant diverse community’, members of the Marketing, Insights and Communications team (MIC) at the University of St Thomas in St Paul, Minnesota, were compelled to take action. This paper provides an overview of the DEI Viewfinder tool, developed by the authors of this paper, to assist content creators in examining their marketing content through a DEI lens. Created via an audit of their own marketing and communications materials, the tool provides users with nine questions to ask in support of inclusive marketing and communications materials.