Campus Review news editor Patrick Avenell was dismayed to see his local bus displaying an advertisement for his alma mater, Australian National University, the top-ranked university in Australia. He thought the ad, and its placement on a humble people-carrier, cheapened the university's brand. But ANU is not alone in splashing out on flashy marketing, albeit on public transport. In 2015, for instance, the Group of Eight collectively spent $76 million on marketing, advertising and promotions; an average of $9.5 million per university.
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Can’t see anything wrong with advertising on a bus!
Nor that a bus is too “humble” (and then add in ‘people-carrier’ ?) for university advertising.
Interesting that you didn’t cover Western Sydney University’s rebrand from the University of Western Sydney – easily the most significant University marketing activity in the last 5 years and given the viral video of Deng Adut in their “Unlimited” campaign I would’ve thought you would’ve covered it.
Hi Nathanael. That rebrand was put to Outfit in a question, but their response to same was removed in the editing process. In short, we didn’t forget about WSU!
The mistake in all these campaigns is to focus on the university as a brand and not on the courses or reasons for selecting a university. Reputation carries some weight, but these days decisions are really made at the course level first and then the university second. Also many decisions are made online and via social media (recommendations from peers). The WSU is a worthy exception.
I think the challenge going forward is to promote the diversity of offerings that many universities have and focus on what they do better than the competition. This is possible in more digitally focused campaigns than the old traditional media featured here that young people do not watch or engage with.