university-marketing-feature

University Marketing: The Student Shall Show Us The Way

Executive Creative Director Michael Gambino reflects on university marketing concepts, and how creative teams should look to students to craft effective campaigns

Quick, name a famous campaign for a university.

Can’t think of one?

Neither can I. You know why? It doesn’t exist.

Why is this?

In many ways, creating great marketing for a university should be easier than most brands. The target market is smarter and younger than average, so the work needn’t be dumbed down or stodgy. Also, a university should already have a well-established brand personality. So, two very elusive parts of a good creative brief are already well established.

At one point in our adult lives, we have all been students, tortured by the life-or-death decision of where to go to college. We remember the angst this decision created, the overwhelming certainty that if we chose wrong, we’d surely be homeless, and if we chose correctly, we’d live out the rest of our life in white slacks with a captain’s hat, eating canapés and petits fours, pinkies out. As marketers, it should be easy for us to empathize with the prospective student. But, time and time again, university CMOs fall into the familiar traps—clichés, insider speak, and the dreaded laundry list of benefits.

That said, every once in a while, somebody gets it right.

One example is a recent spot for University of Phoenix. You’ve seen the spot— late at night a young woman sits at the keyboard debating whether to push the “enter” button. She finally does, and jumping for joy, steps on her child’s squeaky toy. The whole story is told simply and to profound effect.

As competition between brick-and-mortar institutions and online institutions ramps up, production budgets are increasing for universities, and with that the overall digital and video production quality has stepped up. Universities are spending the money to create professional videos to help them stand apart from the growing competition. They recognize that young people are increasingly savvy about production values. After all, this is a generation born with an HD camera in their pocket.

While production values have improved, writing and marketing concepts have yet to catch up. Retire the “dreams” and “moments” clichés. Exile the yawn-inspiring graduation montage. Banish the inspirational music track with the emotional crescendo as the university logo fades up. Instead, create clearly crafted campaigns that honestly reflect the personality of the university, speaking directly to your most highly coveted prospect, in a relatable voice.

Most brands have broad targets: men and women aged 13−52 (ugh). But, a university knows who its target are: students, 18−22. Universities who have a succinctly crafted target have an even greater advantage: socially conscious students, 18−22, interested in science, technical innovation and making connections.

If you aren’t sure of your prospect’s interests, go to the cafeteria and watch some university spots with a handful of freshman. Watch when clichés make their eyes glaze over. Watch when they howl at corny acting. You have your very own built-in test group. Let the students show you the way.

Most importantly, when you are judging creative concepts, consider work from the point of view of the prospective student. Shut off your inner-CMO-with-spouse-mortgage-and-2.3-kids.

For a few minutes, during your agency’s next creative presentation, you get to go back to high school, searching for the right university all over again—but this time, you get to do it minus pimples.