ASUCLA launches “˜Core Values’ marketing

When first-year electrical engineering student Jeff Kuo came back after winter break to buy his textbooks, he noticed what he described as a “slick” new design in his carry-away bag.

Kuo said he likes the new design, part of the Associated Students UCLA’s winter marketing campaign, because it is cleaner and more visually appealing than that of the previously used bags.

The marketing blitz is named the Core Values Campaign, because it showcases ASUCLA’s nine core values and highlights the association’s mission of serving the current and future needs of the UCLA community, said Executive Director Bob Williams.

“Many people on campus … may think of us as a typical commercial operation. We are not. While many campuses have outsourced the operation of their bookstores and cash food services, at UCLA those operations have been operated by the Student Association since 1919,” Williams said.

The campaign serves not just to market ASUCLA’s operations, but also to showcase the association’s dedication to sustainability.

Examples of such green efforts include the pilot program at LuValle Commons, which reduces consumption and waste.

ASUCLA also plans to promote green practices with the installation of recycling bins in Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall.

In addition to the bags, new designs can be found in the coffee sleeves at ASUCLA restaurants, bookmarks in the bookstore and several “Core Values” displays in Ackerman and Kerckhoff.

Jared Fox, the chair of ASUCLA’s board of directors, said the motto of the campaign ““ “It all comes back to you!” ““ is meant to communicate to the campus that the association is owned and run by students.

“Everything we put into ASUCLA comes back to us as students,” Fox said.

Williams said the association is run by a student majority in its board of directors, which oversees the $80 million operation.

ASUCLA also oversees the undergraduate and graduate student councils, which determine policy and funding that affect student life.

Not all students have been influenced by the campaign. Second-year computer science student Matt Dodge said he has not noticed the designs because he does not shop at the ASUCLA store, which he said is expensive.

He added that the campaign would not change his mind about where he orders his books.

Williams said he hopes the campaign will ultimately help people understand that all purchases at ASUCLA come back to serve the campus.

“(The purchases) result in the construction of facilities like the Greenhouse and the (remodeled) Cooperage,” he said.

The campaign’s launch is completed, but Williams said ASUCLA would use the Core Values logo in its communications throughout the year, and will relaunch the campaign with different elements next year.

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