Discover What You Don't Know About Tech

Client: Arkansas Tech University

SITUATION

From 2003-2012, Arkansas Tech University was the fifth-fastest growing Master’s-granting university in the nation, but its leadership recognized that to continue that pace of growth, they would have to expand their recruiting territory for new students into Arkansas’ two largest population centers - the Little Rock metropolitan area and northwest Arkansas. ATU asked the Sells Agency to develop a marketing strategy to penetrate those markets.

GOALS

There were two primary goals set for this work:

• Build awareness for ATU
• Increase the number of prospective students who take a campus tour

Campus tours were a proven positive factor in the likelihood of a student choosing to enroll at ATU. Research showed that students who take a campus tour were significantly more likely to attend ATU than students who did not take a tour.

EXECUTION

Executing the Discover campaign involved several approaches, including:

• Video commercials for broadcast, cable and online in-stream videos in central and northwest Arkansas. These videos featured real students discussing what made ATU the best option for them, as well as some of the unique opportunities that studying at ATU had afforded them.
• Materials that were handed to students when they arrived at ATU for a tour were synced with the Discover campaign to create brand cohesion and consistency of message.
• A pre-tour video was produced so that all prospective students were assured the opportunity to hear the most important messages prior to taking a student-led tour of campus.

RESULTS

The Discover campaign launched in the fall of 2013. Fall is the primary season for campus tours, and during the fall of 2013, ATU saw a 144% increase in campus tours over the fall of 2012. In the fall of 2014, there was an additional 42% growth in campus tours.

ATU saw a 6% increase in undergraduate enrollment during the duration of the campaign (2013-2016), moving them from being the sixth largest university in the state in 1999 to the third largest in 2015. From 2010-2015, ATU had the second highest rate of growth among all universities in Arkansas.

SERVICES

Traditional Marketing; Public Relations; Videography

Print

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Online Display

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Viewbook

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Videography