Advertising effectively: amplify with integrated marketing
Brand Awareness
The Client
Tacoma Community College is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington with more than 15,000 students enrolling each year. It serves the city of Tacoma and the Pierce County portion of the Kitsap Peninsula, and competes with other community colleges in the region.
The Challenge
Traditionally, community colleges spend a great deal on out-of-home (OOH) advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) digital ads, and commercials on local public access stations. Facing competition, Tacoma Community College was looking to try something different that would target the same demographic more effectively.
The Solution
We planned and executed an integrated marketing campaign that used paid advertising, earned or organic media, and owned media channels to achieve market saturation.
SERVICES PERFORMED
Brand Awareness
- Graphic design
- Script writing
- Market research
- Media planning
- Media buying
- Brand messaging
SERVICES PERFORMED
Brand Awareness
Graphic design
Script writing
Market research
Media planning
Media buying
Brand messaging
We opted to roll out this campaign in stages, being that it consisted of new campaign branding and the message was multi-faceted. We unveiled the branding of Reach Higher on buses and billboards, simple and bold.
We developed a series of radio spots and a video featuring local Tacoma singer-celebrity Vicci Martinez. In order to maximize value, we worked with TCC and Vicci’s manager to create a scholarship for women and minorities who were interested in pursuing degrees in the arts. We wanted it to be meaningful and relevant to both Vicci and the current landscape of college admissions–giving an opportunity to often marginalized demographics when it comes to higher education.
We delivered our messaging on Pandora Radio with both radio and display ads and built a microsite to support lead generation.
This campaign went regionally viral thanks to earned media, as it was picked up by innumerable news sources, and also went on to win a NW Marketing Award for best radio campaign, PSAMA Pulse Award for Best Integrated Campaign and a National Paragon Award for top community college radio campaign.
“Our campaign was a huge success thanks to Sands Costner. Without much direction, SCA understood what we needed and made important suggestions to help us stand out in our market. SCA knows how to work inside the box in order to think outside the box. Our Pandora Radio campaign has been one of the most successful in the area.”
—Shawn Jennison, Director of Marketing, Tacoma Community College
If you are planning to advertise, or considering how to optimize your ad spend, Sands Costner can help. We’ll start by asking you a few questions. Contact us today—we’re excited to hear from you.