University of Colorado

This is the some of the work I love most and you’ll see why.

“I want to create a love affair between CU and the state of Colorado.”

-Todd Saliman, President of the University of Colorado System

In perhaps the most literal interpretation of a brief, we wrote a love letter to Colorado, and asked Coloradans to tell us what they love most about their state. CU responded to each Coloradan who engaged with the campaign–and shared how someone on one of CU’s four campuses was doing something to keep Colorado, Colorado.

Role: Creative Director, Art Director | Client: Simpson Scarborough | Year: 2024-2025

We asked Coloradans what they love most about their state via TV, banner ad, newspaper, radio and social media. If that wasn’t obsessive enough, we roadtripped across the state and asked them at local events.

Over 600 Coloradans (and one cow) told us what they loved. We spent the next 6 months personally replying to as many as we could about how CU was helping to make what they loved possible.

We blitzed the state on Valentines Day with a newspaper love letter and gave away free coffee at the Loveland, Co. Sweetheart Festival.

We continued to show up at events that were distinctly Coloradan–and started a dialogue with anyone who would chat, even a frozen dead guy (an especially good listener).

We continued to share the love with human content, and by speaking the language of Coloradans.

It’s hard to get stats on a love affair (very qualitative data) but quantitatively speaking CU saw a systemwide record enrollment in the fall of 2025 across all four campuses, and a 15% increase in positive perception among parents of prospective students. So, yeah, we did it.