Building a Productive Team Culture

It’s one thing to have a team that works well together. It’s another thing to have a team that knocks it out of the park in terms of productivity, honors, and a place where people want to be. That would be the marketing and communications team at Purdue University. It’s a team that has nearly doubled in size through a university-wide 150th anniversary celebration, the COVID lockdown, and presidential transition.

Two Purdue marcom leaders, Ethan Braden and Kelly Hiller, joined “I Wanna Work There!” to talk about their journeys, building a team culture, and earning campus wide buy-in to become an award-winning operation. To learn more about Purdue’s team and work, go to. 

Key Takeaways

• Strategic Consistency for Brand Success: Sustained, consistent efforts in branding create compound impact and long-term success.
• Empowerment and Ownership: Defining clear values—empowerment, optimism, excellence, and care—fosters accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
• Campus-Wide Collaboration: Establishing Purdue's marketing and communications as partners rather than service providers has enhanced brand cohesion and empowered individual units.
• Skill vs. Attitude in Hiring: Prioritizing cultural fit and attitude over skill leads to a dynamic team more aligned with institutional values.
• Intentionality in Building Culture: Regular engagement, purposeful onboarding, and shared goals encourage a productive and unified team environment.

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Episode Summary

What Strategies Have Driven Purdue’s Marketing and Communications Success?

Ethan Braden and Kelly Hiller share how Purdue’s marketing and communications have transformed over the years, focusing on strategic consistency, clarity, and brand alignment. Ethan, who joined Purdue with extensive marketing experience from the pharmaceutical industry, initially faced the challenge of creating an internal marketing culture that could cohesively tell Purdue’s story. With a commitment to long-term consistency rather than short-term intensity, he emphasized strategic values that guide his team daily. Purdue’s marketing team now embraces the mission of creating meaningful impact, leveraging brand familiarity with a cohesive, values-driven approach.

Kelly, who has been with Purdue for many years, witnessed how the team’s shift from viewing campus units as “clients” to “partners” fostered stronger collaboration. By empowering departments with resources and expertise, the marketing and communications team transformed into trusted advisors. The culture of collaboration strengthened Purdue’s brand across the board, making each campus unit more cohesive and aligned with Purdue’s overarching goals.

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How Has Purdue Maintained a Strong, Supportive Culture Despite Transitions?

Kelly and Ethan underscore that building a supportive culture at Purdue required intentional hiring and clear communication of values. They focused on cultivating a team of “drivers” rather than “order-takers.” The marketing team grew significantly in recent years, and the cultural shift included embracing a remote work model, establishing trust among team members, and maintaining a culture of accountability. Purdue’s four core virtues—empowerment, optimism, excellence, and care—serve as the team’s guiding principles, helping them consistently strive for excellence and respect each other’s contributions. This culture has led to high performance, employee retention, and a workplace where individuals are encouraged to bring ideas, find solutions, and work collaboratively.

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How Does Purdue's Marketing Team Balance Skill and Attitude in Hiring?

For Purdue’s marketing leaders, attitude outweighs skill when recruiting new team members. Both Ethan and Kelly value candidates with an intrinsic motivation and proactive spirit over highly developed technical skills alone. The philosophy is that technical skills can be taught, while a strong, positive attitude toward growth and collaboration is essential to thriving within Purdue’s culture. By prioritizing cultural fit, the team ensures that each new hire is aligned with Purdue’s values and committed to collective goals. Kelly highlights the importance of teamwork and respect for others, emphasizing that a cohesive team dynamic promotes longevity and consistent success.

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What is Purdue’s Approach to Strengthening Campus Collaboration?

Purdue’s marketing team has cultivated a strong, collaborative relationship with campus units, creating resources to support departmental marketing efforts and encouraging open communication. They transitioned from being seen as service providers to being strategic partners, providing tools, templates, and other resources to empower smaller departments to tell their stories effectively. Kelly highlights how the team regularly shares updates, industry trends, and institutional priorities with campus marketers through weekly communications and the Brand Council, which strengthens Purdue’s brand presence and consistency across departments. With top-down support and involvement from Purdue’s leadership, including the president, Purdue’s marketing team has gained the respect and trust of campus units, creating a unified brand that resonates across the institution.

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This Episode is Sponsored by Pathify

Meet Pathify —  an innovative higher ed engagement hub that puts students at the center of their college journey. Pathify sits at the center of your school’s digital ecosystem, becoming the single, user experience interface tying together all systems, content, and communications. Their engagement hub elevates the information that matters most and pushes systems like the SIS behind the scenes where they belong, making it simpler for students to discover and engage with the opportunities your institution provides at every step of their higher ed journey, from prospect to alumni. What’s even better, Pathify has a mobile experience that provides 100% parity with the responsive web app, so your campus app is always in sync. Pathify is a platform that EVERY stakeholder on campus  — from marketing, to admissions, to student affairs, to IT, etc., — can get equally excited about. Learn more about how Pathify is uniting strategic units across campus and bettering the entire student experience by visiting Pathify.com

About the Enrollify Podcast Network: 

I Wanna Work There is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network.  If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!  

Our podcast network is growing by the month and we’ve got a plethora of marketing, admissions, and higher ed technology shows that are jam packed with stories, ideas, and frameworks all designed to empower you to be a better higher ed professional. Our shows feature a selection of the industry’s best as your hosts. Learn from Jeremy Tiers, Zach Busekrus, Jaime Hunt, Allison Turcio, Jamie Gleason and many more. 

Learn more about The Enrollify Podcast Network at podcasts.enrollify.org. Our shows help higher ed marketers and admissions professionals find their next big idea — come and find yours.