Strategic Communications

About Stratcom

Competencies

Communications - Management and Planning

Stratcom’s Communications unit facilitates the access to Stratcom by the LAU community by providing a single point of entry, and by planning communications to maximize effectiveness and efficiencies.

Note: outsourced services:

The department has supervised the creation of a roster of external designers to whom the university outsources assignments under our department’s technical authority (namely branding and messaging oversight).

The department works with an approved agency of record for all external media planning and buying.

The department has also supervised the standardization of the roster of photographers and videographers for coverage of events.

LAU’s community can access these services directly (through the Procurement Office) or in some cases, through our department. In case of direct contracting, our department is the designated technical authority for initiation and clearance.

Contact Person

Karina Rodriguez
Lead Director of Integrated Marketing Communications
LAU Extension: 1465
Email: krodriguez@lau.edu.lb

Media & Public Relations

The Media & Public Relations unit manages all aspects of media and PR, and is responsible for the institutional social media.

The unit issues regular press statements to update our media on important LAU matters. A list of recent statements is found here. Please subscribe to our mailing list to receive regular updates.

Other relevant social media channels not managed directly by Stratcom’s Media & Public Relations unit can be found here.

Follow LAU on:

Contact Person

Nada Torbey
Senior Director of Media & Public Relations
LAU Extension: 2871
Email: nada.torbey@lau.edu.lb

Digital Communications

The Digital Communications unit is in charge of key digital communications solutions namely website design and development, email marketing support, and digital advertising solutions. The unit is also starting to build its capabilities in terms of search optimization.

Stratcom’s Digital Communications handles the web design and development of key institutional sites.

The unit also handles directly all updates to the institutional site. For the 38+ other sites, the unit strives to train content owners in the Content Management System to enable a higher degree of decentralization.

The unit handles LAU-related (and LAU-branded) digital advertising on social and Google Ad platforms, namely those with enrollment or fundraising objectives. Note that specific grant-related/project-related digital advertising are usually redirected to the Procurement Office.

Note on traffic:
Given the high demand for the services of this unit, traffic is done in coordination with the Communications unit to prioritize projects with high ROI on enrollment, advancement, thought-leadership awareness.

Contact Person

Marwan Abi Khalil
Lead Digital Communications Manager
LAU Extension: 1989
Email: marwan.abikhalil@lau.edu.lb

Editorial Production

The Editorial services unit develops stories and content for dissemination mainly through our owned channels: website articles, LAU Magazine, President’s Forum e-newsletter, strategic publications (President’s Report, LAU at a Glance).

Note: the LAU Magazine is currently on hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions and resource constraints.

Stratcom’s dedicated writers manage the social media communities of the School of Arts & Sciences and Adnan Kassar School of Business, which you can follow here:

Contact Person

Dana Mills
Senior Managing Editor
LAU Extension: 1990
Email: dana.mills@lau.edu.lb

Creative - Design and Campaign Development

The unit handles the development of branding tools by adapting available templates or by creating original campaigns.
Communications may include tools to increase awareness for conferences, research development, university advancement.

Note on traffic:

Given the high demand for the services of this unit, traffic is done in coordination with the Communications unit to prioritize projects with high ROI on enrollment, advancement, thought leadership awareness.

Contact Person

Serge Zahar
Lead Director of Creative Services
LAU Extension: 1102
Email: serge.zahar@lau.edu.lb