Advertising Policy

• Unit: Student Unions 
• Date Established: 01/30/2020
• Date Last Updated: 01/30/2020

The University at Buffalo recognizes that advertising a product, service or event is essential to its success. The advertising policy outlines how the University at Buffalo regulates advertising in and around the Student Unions, what types of ads are acceptable, and what types of ads are unacceptable.

Banners in the Student Unions are restricted to campus activities and/or University at Buffalo related functions. Only banners that have received approval from Student Unions are permitted to be displayed in the Student Unions.

• Obtain approval sticker and fastener at the Student Union Welcome Center. Banners hung without an approval sticker from Student Unions will be removed.
• Groups may hang one banner per event, and all banners should have the hosting organization’s name and logo on the lower corner of the banner.
• Banners must not exceed the size of 4' wide and 6' tall.

Chalking of walls inside and outside Student Unions, or on sidewalks of the Student Unions, is prohibited under all circumstances. Individuals or groups found chalking will be charged a cleaning fee.

Printed materials, literature and publications may be distributed in the Student Unions provided that the individual or student club and organization has a confirmed reservation table for that day. Student clubs and organizations may distribute literature in their confirmed reservation room during the timeframe posted for the event.

• Flyers may be posted on bulletin boards. Posting is not allowed on walls, doors, painted surfaces, windows, ceilings, etc. No more than one flyer per event is allowed on each bulletin board. Notices and flyers should be hung on bulletin boards and shall not exceed 11" x 17". Each flyer posted must include the name of the sponsoring organization. Flyers posted on bulletin boards in a language other than English must have a readable English translation.
• All bulletin boards are cleared on Sunday evening; replacement/new flyers may be hung on Monday morning. Student Unions is not responsible for any loss of or damage done to a notice, flyer or banner posted in the building.
• Any posting that violates the above regulations may be removed and disposed of immediately at the discretion of the Student Unions staff and Student Unions reserves the right to remove inappropriate flyers.
• Individuals found removing flyers without proper authorization are subject to disciplinary action.

Painting of windows in the Student Unions is allowed for special events with permission of Student Unions in coordination with a lobby reservation or as part of a week-long series of events. Painting is restricted to the windows in the first floor lobby. Only non-toxic, washable paint may be used on the windows.

The purpose of the University at Buffalo’s Student Union digital signage is to support the mission of the University through content that encourages student involvement through digital advertising of events for the campus community. The digital signs will promote celebratory initiatives and serve as an entertainment entity.

The Student Union digital signs promote student activities, events and educational opportunities by providing well-produced, eye-catching advertisements to a large internal audience and visitors, with the goals of improving communication across campus, increasing attendance at events, and informing the campus community of world and University news — all while assisting and building broad-based support for the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. Each advertisement has a short time frame to tell a story, due to the rotating nature of digital signage, so well-designed concise messages are critical.

Therefore, the purpose of UB’s Digital Signage Policy is to ensure accuracy, consistency, integrity and protection of the identity and image of the University by providing a set of minimum standards and guidelines for digital signage content for UB’s departments, schools, facilities, organizations and affiliates.

Disclaimer: Student Unions will have full access to add, delete and/or make changes to submitted media and assigned playlist rotations as well as, when needed, use the Digital Sign to display emergency or important information.

• Content should promote the University’s mission statement and University activities, events and educational opportunities in a time-sensitive manner. Material should be informative and of interest to students, faculty and staff. Members from recognized student clubs and organizations as well as recognized academic and non-academic departments and offices may use the digital signage.
• Content production for Digital Signage requires consideration of technical, copyright and aesthetic factors for video and audio delivery. The technical considerations deal with the system’s capabilities and limitations. The aesthetic or creative considerations relate to making graphics interesting to see and effective communication tools.
• Photography is a great way to promote events as it gives the viewers an idea of past events. When creating an ad with photos, be sure the information is visible. A general recommendation for a well-designed layout is to use no more than one photo per ad.
• Student Unions reserves the right to refuse approval of any submitted content that is not compatible with the University’s image. Content should in no way be offensive or biased to any individual based on characteristics outlined in the university’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy.

• Announcements relating to significant student or faculty/staff achievements, awards or accomplishments
• Event information for upcoming activities sponsored or coordinated by UB departments
• Event information for upcoming activities sponsored or coordinated by recognized student organizations/clubs
• Changes in timing or location of regularly scheduled classroom activities or special events, including street closings and parking procedures
• Emergency notifications from University Police and significant changes in operation (e.g., cancellation of classes and activities)

• Classified ads (cars/apartments/bicycles/computers, etc.)
• Personal messages (from one person to another)
• Political statements relating to campus, local, statewide or national elections
• Promotion of weekly meetings such as general body meetings or recurring events
• Promotion of lobby information tables or vendor tables
• Promotion of credit cards, alcoholic beverages, firearms, tobacco products, fireworks, candles or other restricted or hazardous materials
• Promotion of pornographic materials or products
• Any content regarding materials or products that create a clear and present danger to the University community, including but not limited to illegal items, bootleg materials and items made through copyright infringement

Time-sensitive events may receive priority posting. Messages must be approved for 14 days prior to an event with the posting to be taken down no later than the first business day after the event has occurred. During times of high demand, shorter posting periods may be established in order to accommodate all the groups.

• An advertisement will run for seven days before the event date
• Advertisers are allowed one advertisement per event
• Advertisements typically appear once for eight seconds in a three-minute loop

The LCD displays are 16 x 9 wide-screen displays. The background template contains windows or boxes and crawls or scrolls. It is important to realize this is a horizontal format.

The resolution limitations of the digital signage require simple, bold text or type. It is best to avoid light, ornate fonts with fine thin lines or fonts with delicate serifs (even in larger sizes) because they are difficult to read. Digital signage requires a limit on the number of characters (letters, spaces, etc.) in a line and a limit on the number of lines on a graphic. The simpler the graphic, the better the communication will appear. When the maximum amount of text is being used, a thick, simple font is recommended. If it is not legible, it not only fails to achieve the goal of communication, but could also offend the viewer. Therefore, content should be limited so that the viewer has sufficient time to read it during the brief display time. Remember, most people are walking by the displays.

Insufficient contrast between text and background can make reading difficult. Some color combinations may provide sufficient contrast, but still be difficult to view because one or more of the colors is extremely bright.

Digital signage requests should be submitted via UBLinked.

• Review all proposed advertisements
• Approve, disapprove advertisements and communicate with individuals or groups about the details
• Remove any unacceptable content as quickly as possible

• Respect university property, facilities and personnel
• Make certain all advertisements are acceptable based on the Advertising policy

• Create your advertisement and submit it to a representative in Student Unions for review and approval.
• Once you’ve been given approval, run/post your advertisement using the channels that were approved.

For additional information, please contact: