Case Study: Old Dominion University achieves real-time media monitoring and amplified brand reach with Meltwater

How Old Dominion University grows its global student community

Old Dominion University (ODU), a research-focused university in Norfolk serving about 25,000 students, needed to modernize its communications work for a 21-person team. Before Meltwater, the team juggled multiple systems, missed tweets and media mentions, relied on Google Alerts and an unreliable monitoring provider, and lacked competitive media tracking—making it hard to gain traction and respond quickly.

By consolidating monitoring, social engagement, influencer targeting and analytics in Meltwater, ODU now runs monthly strategy sessions, uses real-time alerts (including a 1-mile campus radius) and assigns replies through Engage, while dashboards measure performance. The result: streamlined crisis response and outreach, stronger media placement and fundraising support, demonstrable ROI from high-profile mentions (e.g., Secretary Kerry) and increased global brand recognition that helped secure major donor attention and wider media pickup.

Old Dominion University

Giovanna Genard

Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communication and Marketing