Purdue brand leader Bailey Leffler recognized by Digiday and Ad Age

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Bailey Leffler, Purdue University’s director of brand, received two recent honors for brand leadership. Leffler was selected by Digiday as Rising Brand Leader at the Future Leader Awards. She was also a Future Brand Leader finalist for Ad Age’s A-list & Creativity Awards. Both awards recognize emerging leaders for their creativity, influence and impact in brand marketing.

At Purdue, Leffler leads the team responsible for shaping, stewarding and activating the university’s brand across physical, digital, retail and experiential environments. Her work focuses on protecting and advancing the Purdue brand while extending its reach, relevance and value through strategic partnerships, experiential initiatives and brand-led revenue opportunities. In doing so, she helps position Purdue in culturally relevant ways that deliver measurable impact. 

In her recent talk with the Association of American Universities, Leffler outlined a bold road map for higher-ed marketing rooted in aligned values, cocreated experiences and authentic storytelling. The Purdue Brand Studio campaigns she led include Purdue’s partnership with Reese Witherspoon’s Sunnie by Hello Sunshine, the “In Our STEM Era” activation with e.l.f. Cosmetics and a record-breaking solar eclipse event with NASA.

“Bailey isn’t just leading campaigns and partnerships. She’s shaping the future of higher-ed marketing,” said Kelly Hiller, Purdue’s chief marketing officer. “Her ability to unite creativity, strategy and cultural insight makes Bailey a true future leader. We are fortunate to have her at the helm of the Purdue brand.” 

Leffler is honored alongside brand leaders from global organizations including Time, Digitas, Mazda North America and Panera Bread.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.