Loyola’s marketing department is in the middle of an aggressive ad campaign to promote the university.

Consolidated efforts that range from banners along St. Charles Avenue and ads in Louis Armstrong International Airport tout Loyola’s, “ideal size, academic excellence, and rich Jesuit tradition,” Loyola’s assistant vice president of marketing and communications Julia McSherry said.

Advertising also started showing up in a special college edition of the U.S. News and World Report, targeting nine key U.S. cities, including Atlanta, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago.

The ad campaign began in January and is part of “an overall integrated marketing communication plan that began three years ago,” McSherry said.

The marketing plan also has shown up in various Loyola publications, such as the alumni magazine, faculty staff newsletter and the university’s Web site.

A division of Institutional Development, the university’s marketing department worked closely with alumnus Robbie Vitrano, A’85.

Vitrano is a managing partner of Trumpet Advertising, a locally-based ad agency, and he worked pro bono as the plan’s chief creative director.

Paramount to Vitrano’s plan is that the marketing campaign focus strongly on Loyola’s Jesuit tradition, intermediate size and academic standing, as well as making the ads new and creative, McSherry said.

But advertising, McSherry said, is only a small part of Loyola’s marketing plan.

There are also other areas such as the Pack Pride campaign which, “promotes spirit and enthusiasm about Loyola’s successes on campus,” McSherry said.

The Pack Pride campaign calls to attention the real results of Loyola’s emphasis on social justice and academic pursuits.

McSherry said that the ads are important, because “the university has a strategic goal of seeking national pre-eminence,” McSherry said.