Central UF Marketing

Born in the Swamp: Gatorade at UF

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Gatorade, the UF marketing team created a fast-paced 45-second film highlighting the university’s role in inventing the world’s most famous sports drink and its continued legacy of research excellence. Produced entirely in-house, the video combines archival imagery with modern footage, hand-crafted animation and immersive sound design to tell a decades-long story in a dynamic, social-friendly format. The piece reinforces UF’s legacy of world-changing research while celebrating a story only the university can tell. The video earned a Gold ADDY and “Best of Show” award from the American Advertising Federation, beating thousands of entries.

Gator Greatness

In 2025, the marketing team partnered with BVK to produce the new university PSA titled Gator Greatness. The video highlights UF's history of excellence in academics, research and athletics.

The PSA is streaming during NCAA-streamed football games as well as home games.

See how, in the midst of palm and pine, Gators continue to build on a legacy of greatness.

Show and Tell

In an era where traditional talking-head videos struggle to capture attention on social media, the University of Florida developed a “show and tell” video format to replace this with immersive storytelling. Instead of explaining research from a desk, the video follows the researcher in their environment, visually demonstrating their work and bringing the audience directly into the discovery process. From trees, to sewers, cockroaches, horses, and cows, these pieces turn complex science into an intuitive, visual experience built for mobile viewing.

Research Time

In an effort to translate complex research into digestible content that would stop the scroll for students, the UF marketing team created “Research Time,” a short-form Instagram series designed to make academic research engaging for student audiences. Built specifically for how students consume content online, the series pairs fast-paced storytelling with custom student-designed animations and clear explanations of complex topics. Filmed in UF’s in-house studio, each episode transforms dense research into visually dynamic, scroll-stopping content. The approach proved highly effective – one episode generated more than 500,000 views and 60,000 interactions, with thousands of saves and shares – demonstrating that when research is designed for social platforms rather than adapted to them, students are eager to watch, engage, and share. Learn more about extinct sloths, bird lungs, and cancer breakthroughs.

This is AI Print Ads

Created for print placements in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the “Don’t Just Wing AI Integration” ad takes a playful approach to a rapidly evolving topic. Featuring bold whitespace, unexpected imagery and playful copy, the piece was designed to capture attention and spark curiosity among higher education audiences.

The concept reflects the University of Florida’s modern, research-driven brand direction.

Decision Day

Decision Day is more than just a day. It’s when the future begins. In the time leading up to Decision Day, until the tears have dried, the UF marketing team blankets social media with content celebrating the incoming class. Students flock to Instagram to announce their arrival, where they are each greeted with a personalized welcome message from the university. To top it off, we capture the emotional rollercoaster of this milestone moment for all to see. And this is just the beginning. Content warning: This may leave you bawling your eyes out with overwhelming nostalgia.

Mercury Web Templates

The Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing partnered with UFIT and agency Stamats, to develop a new look for the ufl.edu homepage and newly branded and accessible web templates available to all UF colleges and departments.  

The web templates are part of the Mercury Theme, which was released to the UF community in September 2023. Visit the Mercury Templates page in the Brand Center to learn how to access the templates, trainings and resources.

You@UF

College is hard. Why not take a break and get to know your students? In this unique, semi-unfiltered Instagram series, the UF marketing team has students pull up a chair and talk about...anything. No, really. From trees to chicken, cool words, and so much more – sit back and learn about all that UF has to offer, from the people who know best.

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Our People: University Culture at UF

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a student at the University of Florida?

Alumnus Roshawn Reid shares his experience being part of different communities while he was a student. The university culture, from his experience, was filled with supportive communities. These communities also live outside of the main campus.

This video was part of a small campaign that showcased UF's brand pillars: People, place, and perspective. Roshawn's video represented the "people" pillar, while Dr. Amy Williams, assistant professor of geology at UF, represented the "place" pillar, and Karla Saldaña Ochoa, assistant professor at the School of Architecture, represented the "perspective" pillar. 

News Video Teasers (Buzzies)

The marketing team actively seeks creative and engaging ways to promote the news coming out of the University of Florida. One tactic to amplify news is short video teasers, or as we like to call them, Buzzies.

These videos are usually no longer than :30 and are intended to tease stories to viewers and encourage them to learn more by reading the full written story. Buzzies are currently on YouTube and promoted via paid efforts.

The video below is an example of a Buzzy.

Brand Center

Wondering what makes the University of Florida brand stand out among the rest? Brand unity and consistency. The marketing team oversees the UF Brand Center, the perfect one-stop location for all things related to the university’s official branding guidelines.  

Anyone producing communications and marketing materials that represent UF is encouraged to visit this resource to learn guidelines around logos, trademarks, brand colors, graphics, and more.