Athabasca University national advertising campaign
National Advertising Campaign
the challenge
We have been honoured to write the national marketing plan and develop and execute the national advertising campaign for Athabasca University for the past three years running.
AU has experienced impressive growth, but they have ambitious targets-to be one of the top three online schools in the world with 100,000 students by 2015. They have also conducted major research that examined perceptions and awareness of the university on a national level. The research uncovered major perception issues in the category of online education. Potential students thought online education was too easy, impersonal, taught by computers instead of real professors, and not as credible as a face-to-face degree.
the idea
In its first year, the Stand out campaign focused on building awareness of Athabasca University and educating the target audience about online and distance education as a category using student testimonials.
In the second year the message changed slightly. The testimonial was reduced to two lines of copy and the thrust of the copy was on the institution and the choices available.
Now, in its third year, the campaign has continued to evolve. The message now includes a call-to-action, with specific headlines focused on the benefits of being an AU student.
The new concept is flexible and expandable. It includes print ads, several online ads and will be applied to institutional publications like the viewbook.
the result
The 'I stand out' campaign is now in its third year. Applications to Athabasca University are up by 12% over last year, at a time where post-secondary institutions across Canada are struggling to meet targets and are facing declining enrolment.
If you'd like to see more, we'd be happy to show our complete portfolio in-person. Please contact us to arrange a meeting.