Face of school’s marketing blitz sees ads turning students’ heads
University of Windsor’s recruitment efforts are paying off, data confirms
If the University of Windsor was wondering how effective its new national marketing campaign has been, Rita Thamarappallil can attest to the word definitely getting out.
Featured prominently on one of several giant banners on campus and on other multimedia platforms the school uses to boost recruitment and re-engage alumni, Thamarappallil said she regular gets feedback from across the country.
“My friends and family from across Canada take pictures of themselves with me on the banner to send to me,” said Thamarappallil, who is entering her fourth year.
“They’re seeing it all over. I’ve already got quite the collection of clips and photos.”
Now that the giant banner on Erie Hall facing Wyandotte Street has been up for a few months, Thamarappallil said she’s drawing second looks on campus.
“If I walk past the banner, people will look at it then at me and ask if I’m that girl,” Thamarappallil said.
“My professors are noticing me as well because the banner is used on the website. I’m pretty shy, so sometimes I’ll walk the opposite direction rather than past the banner.
“The campaign is definitely effective in getting people to notice the university.”
The Windsor native didn’t realize what she was having her photo taken for initially, but is unabashed in her support of the campaign. Thamarappallil has helped with the school’s student recruitment by giving tours, making phone calls and offering counselling on campus life since she enrolled.
“I know students I’ve dealt with, including my cousin in Ottawa, have said the marketing made them interested in applying to Windsor,” Thamarappallil said.
University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman said Thamarappallil’s experience is a re-affirmation of what the school’s own data is revealing.
The first phase of the marketing campaign launched just over a year ago resulted in a 50 per cent increase in website hits and Wildeman suspects it played a role in drawing some national recognition from the Huffington Post as Canada’s top university to watch.
It easily convinced the university to build on the momentum of the past year with a new advertising campaign.
Billed as a “Place of Promise,” the university is pushing that message through advertisements and faculty profiles in the Globe and Mail, an enhanced website and other social media platforms.
“We’re using the campaign as outreach to alumni and in our recruitment efforts,” Wildeman said.
“It’s an attempt to get people’s attention and to say we help people achieve their highest potential. We want students to know that the University of Windsor is a serious place to look at attending ”
The Place of Promise campaign was launched this spring and will run until next June.
Wildeman said this fall the university will also use billboards, place ads in cinemas and malls in the Greater Toronto Area and Southwestern Ontario.
The university will back those efforts by having a permanent recruitment person stationed in the GTA.
Wildeman said the substantial capital investments the school has made in improving the main campus and expanding its downtown footprint combined with the commitment to hire 50 new faculty has given the university plenty of material to boost its sales pitch.
“It’s the right thing to do right now,” Wildeman said. “Its certainly generated broad interest in our website. Ultimately ... it comes down to academic programs.”
Wildeman said the university is playing the long game in its decision to continue with a focused message aimed at re-branding the university. It’s going to take several years for many of those students targeted to show up on campus.
“How we’ll measure success is in the number of students applying to Windsor,” Wildeman said. “The number coming from the GTA and the number of international students coming.”
The university also hopes to use the campaign and the recent stream of positive news to strengthen ties with alumni.
“The big aim overall is to raise a sense of pride among alumni and make them feel the university is an important part of the fabric of the community,” Wildeman said.
“If you do that, alumni are more likely to give back and the university will attract more foundations and alternative donors.
“At the end of the day, when you graduate, you have a degree for a lifetime. We want to make you proud of it for a lifetime.”
The funding for the campaign has come from shifting existing budgets and the alumni office.
“We’ve increased that somewhat,” said Wildeman without revealing the exact dollar amount.
“Certainly it costs some dollars to run ads in the Globe, but we’re not taking a huge amount to invest in this. It’s been well within what we’d expect to be a normal expenditure to market and communicate.”