“If it scares you just a little, it’s probably the right thing to do.”

Kent State University Campaign

 

How do you get more academically qualified students (and their parents) to want to go to a university that has historically negative perceptions? You focus on personal stories and show them examples of people who went on to highly successful careers after attending that university.

 

You change their perception and legitimize the university by showing how those people received Experience for Life during their time there. Kent State University did just that when we helped them understand what influenced high school students to pick a particular university. Knowing that students are heavily influenced by known brands, and famous names, we developed a campaign around successful alumni who were associated with big brands and popular culture.

 

We anchored the campaign with a story about Mark Mothersbaugh. Most known for his involvement with Devo, Mark has been influencing kids of all ages with his artistic and musical contributions to shows like Yo Gabba Gabba!, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Rugrats, multiple Wes Anderson films, and numerous scores for popular video games like Crash Bandicoot, and The Sims 2. Turns out that kids in high school, whether they realized it or not, were being influenced by his work, and thus in turn, by Kent State.

 

The campaign was highly successful and well received by prospective students and parents alike. By the time the initial campaign ended Kent State had reported its highest ever freshman class enrollment.