Marketing initiative targets students

Super-hero — or super-stripper? Fanshawe's new marketing campaign is open for interpretation.

The Fanshawe College Marketing and Communications department have unveiled an edgy new marketing campaign in hopes of attracting new students to the College and highlighting the work of individuals currently attending.

“If we're not creating a buzz, then we are not doing our job,” said Jeff Sage, assistant manager of the Marketing and Communications department.

Based on data and extensive research, the rationale behind the new campaign focuses on, what Sage said, is more student focused and is something that the potential students can relate to.

“The College is moving in a new direction,” Sage said. “It is embracing students and their changing demographic.”

Sage said a goal for the new campaign was to make a connection with the students and help with their future success at the College.

“It is one of our goals to help increase graduation rates and to do that students need to get involved with something that they are interested in, in order to be successful,” Sage said.

Dealing with an increasingly younger, and technologically savvy generation, obsessed with “You Tube” and “My Space”, Sage said it was important to produce a campaign that the potential students could relate to.

Advertisements on the back of thirteen buses around the city of London, television commercials, and promotional booklets for each academic division within the College, highlight the campaign.

“We wanted to display students in their natural environment and doing things that they enjoy,” Sage said.

The promotional booklet for the Art and Design division includes a female student colouring all over the body of a male student, who appears to be sleeping, or passed out with a text book on his lap.

Sage said the images in the booklets, which are mostly all current students at the College, resemble the appearance of the majority of students.

“If you look at a College information fair, the hundreds of students attending all look like the students in our ads,” Sage said.

The Human and Community Services divisions' promotional booklet includes a three-part image of a female student taking off her glasses, and pulling open her sweater exposing a large letter “F” similar to the “Super Man” logo.

“This ad is showing an individual who is very passionate, and very proud of their work. A super-hero image and nothing other then that,” said Sage.

When asked about the possibility of the Arts and Design ad resembling a drunken-passed-out student, and the Human and Community Services ad representing a woman stripping, Sage said it was not the Colleges intent to be inappropriate throughout the campaign.

“There are thousands of interpretations for any ad,” Sage said. “It was not our intent to offend anyone, we're just having fun. For most people in our demographic these ads are very tame.”

Sage said it was important in this campaign, that was presented to the Marketing Task Group and which consists of a mix of academic and administrative officials, to stray away from customary marketing techniques.

“This generation is less trusting of traditional marketing,” said Sage. “The covers are meant to get attention, so they'll get noticed. We are competing with twenty-four other Colleges. So, we need to stand out.”

Sage was not concerned that any significant controversy would arise from the campaign after consulting with various experts in the field.

“We consulted with Max Valiquette, who approved of our campaign and said that there is no way that students would be offended.”

Valiquette, the president of “Youthography” which is an organization that provides expertise in nearly every youth related field, deals with thousands of students on a yearly basis in the campaigns intended demographic.

Sage said that the graphic design of the campaign was created by Velocity Studios in London. Consisting and created by former Fanshawe students, Sage said the company did a brilliant job producing exactly what the marketing department envisioned for the campaign.