The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is looking to boost its brand and recruit new students with its integrated #OnlyHere campaign.
Developed by DS+P, the effort includes a new visual identity for the university, along with a redesigned website, created by the Toronto agency’s digital partner Soshal Group. To better reflect UNB’s heritage, its logo now features the year the school was founded along with a cleaner, more modern look. The school’s iconic sail graphic, however, was maintained.
Creative focuses on experiences unique to UNB and emphasizes the university’s history of innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to technology. Two TV spots, which are running in Maritime cinemas and in targeted markets across the rest of the country, underscore things unique to UNB. The school is a research partner with NASA, for instance, and offers one of Canada’s only marine biology programs.
UNB has been challenged with a low profile outside of the Maritimes and a declining student population within New Brunswick.
“The post-secondary sector has become much more competitive in recent years, so in order to help meet UNB’s growth objectives they realized they needed to build broader awareness about their great value proposition,” Doug Robinson, founding partner at DS+P told Marketing.
“Prospective students today are looking for an education that will make them more globally aware, innovative and resourceful. We want to present UNB in a compelling and unique way that says ‘go here, go anywhere.”
In an effort to help UNB pinpoint what makes it distinctive, DS+P led the school through a brand positioning process that engaged nearly 10,000 respondents.
“Our many stakeholders told us we were known for many great things,” said Bob Skillen, UNB’s vice-president, advancement, in a release.
“Fortunately, many of the things they told us we need to be known for we were already doing. But we hadn’t been telling people about our incredible entrepreneurial spirit and our amazing innovation, nor the unique student experience here at UNB,” he said.
The university has committed $5 million to the marketing campaign, according to its student newspaper The Brunswickan.
The campaign kicked off in late September at the Ontario University’s Fair in Toronto. Working with media planning and buying partner PHD Canada, the launch event saw UNB ambassadors hand out branded Google cardboard goggles, which allowed prospective students to take a 3D tour of the university’s Fredericton and Saint John campuses.
Additional elements of the campaign include print, OOH, digital and social.
