I have studied Leeds
University to evaluate their use of cross-media advertising. Cross
media- advertising is important for all advertising campaigns as it
allows a company to reach as wide as an audience as possible, or in
some cases to successfully reach a very specific demographic. Just
like most Universities, Leeds uses the Bursting model, the advantage
of this is that audiences are only targeted at the time of peak
demand. This works for Universities because they know when students
will be searching for Universities so they use the opportunity to
advertise their open days and courses.
One of the methods
that have become much more popular with all Universities is the use
of social media. Social media is a platform that is almost certainly
going to reach the correct age group, for example Leeds University
uses Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and also has a student run
Snapchat. This University can use these effectively to see who posts
and interacts with their accounts and hashtags. Viewing and
collecting this information is a very easy task with today's
technologies. Another positive feature of social media is the 'share'
feature, this is something that connects all social media websites
and can be a very effective word of mouth effect but online. Social
media also allows the possibility of something going 'Viral', this
can gain lots of attention and increase general viewing figures.
Social media is arguably the most effective way of reaching a
Universities Target audience as 67% of social media users in 2017 are
College students (Source: Statista- The statistics portal) The best
thing about social media websites is they are completely free to post
and share making it great for any company, as well as this Leeds
University pays for advertisements to pop up on their target
audiences home pages and feeds, again making it very convenient for
someone searching for universities. The use of a student ran Snapchat
gives Leeds a sense of community as anyone can view their posts and
see the life of students at this universities which also increases
peoples intrigue in their University if it comes across as a fun
place to the students. Another form of social media they can use is
YouTube, YouTube is completely free and allows Leeds to post anything
and again have the chance to go Viral, YouTube also allows Leeds
University through the use of cookies to reach their target audience
with ease because when a consumer clicks on any sort of video
involving Universities, Leeds can have their advertisements pop up
before the video, this helps reach the target audience as they can
put themselves in front of anyone searching for Universities. YouTube
allows Leeds University to post videos on particular courses so
viewers can find even more specific information about their
individual courses, making things more convenient for the consumer.
They also have a virtual tour on YouTube so viewers can get a feel of
the campus, this makes the University look professional and can
portray the University in any way they want, Leeds focuses on the
community feel of the campus and balancing a good working environment
with a friendly environment, this is their overall message In their campaign. On top of all this YouTube can actually
allow Leeds University to generate revenue from the videos if they
allow ads, this money can go towards developing future advertising
campaigns.
Another form of
advertising used by Leeds University is Print adverting, they have
leaflets that can be picked up at open days and University events, by
handing this leaflet out Students will take these home and when
making a decision on what University to go to, this leaflet will be a
constant reminder of Leeds University. it also promotes their
websites and their social media accounts encouraging students to go
visit these pages to "find out more" This is an effective
way of getting students to dig deeper into their university
increasing the chances of selling themselves.
Another form of
media that Leeds University uses is TV adverts. Looking at their most
popular advert i can see that they have focused on showing
professionalism and success being a result from their University,
Their advert shows students going from Mock court trials, Mock
operations and performing on campus to those students being very
successful in those jobs for example becoming an actual surgeon and
saving a mans life, being a barrister in court and performing on an
actual stage. They also have the repetition of "Be"
something for example "Be the change" and " Be Bold"
throughout the advert, then ending with the slogan "Opening
minds, Opening Doors". They do a good job with selling
themselves as a University that can give good results almost putting
the idea in students minds that they will get the job of their dreams
if they go to this university, they also do a good job of enforcing their overall message of a good working environment in this ad as they show the students enjoying themselves and working hard and then showing them living their dream. The advert is also very positive and
motivating to again try and sell themselves. However one thing they
did not do was link any social media or websites at the end which is
surprising as i believe this could be very effective especially
considering that this was their most popular advert. The advantage of
TV ads is they can pick a channel to advertise on to narrow down on
location by choosing region specific channels. Arguably this can be a
better form of media to reach their target audiences parents, It is
important to Universities to impress parents because they can be a
huge influence on a students choice, perhaps this is why the TV ads
focus on the Success and results opposed to social media focusing on
the enjoyable social side of Leeds University.
Overall Leeds
University Utilities cross media-advertising very well as their
synergy makes viewers need to follow over to the next form of media
to discover more information, all the forms of media they use
encourage people to then visit another by saying things like "Visit
the website to learn more" and " Keep updated with students
feedback on particular courses Via our Twitter". They are very
efficient with their advertising as their main focus seems to be
social media and that seems to get them the best feedback, this is
perfect for them because it is cost efficient and effective. They are also quite consistent with their message as most of their ads give a sense of belonging, working hard and enjoyment.
St Mary’s catholic High school (Sixth form)- Audio ad
This advert features an uplifting background track, this is heard before the narration comes in, the narration features three voice actors, two students (Male and Female) and one older man who we can presume is a teacher. It begins with the male student saying that at this sixth form he can “Achieve my full potential with support of excellent staff” This straight away tells us that this sixth form has supportive staff as well as an opportunity to reach an individual’s “full potential” suggesting that this sixth form will assist a student and allow them to work to their strengths and remove any limits on their education. The next student then says that at this sixth form she can “achieve the first steps to my future career” this is letting the listener know that they give the training and qualifications for any future job, this is playing of the hope of students getting their dream job making it seem like this sixth form will help them achieve their dream job
The narration then swaps to the adult talking about the sixth forms “98% pass rate”, “Outstanding Ofsted report” and their “100% university placement success”. All of this Is to try and impress the target audience by suggesting it can almost guarantee a pass as well as 100% guaranteeing a University placement if you go to their sixth form. By mentioning the good Ofsted report they are trying to gain the trust of students and their parents by showing off a positive review from a reliable source again simply trying to impress their target audience and let them know this sixth form is a good place to be. After these statements the adult says “You can achieve this and more”. Saying “And more” suggests that these are the basic things that every student will achieve but there is no limit to a student’s success in this sixth form, this opens the idea up for students to then go on and wonder what they could get out of this sixth form, it helps intrigue and convince them to find out what other things this sixth form offers. This is a good use of cross-media as it then makes students visit things like their websites or any other promotional videos online. He then talks about the open day to raise awareness for that in an attempt to get more people to go. It then ends with all three voices saying find your seat of wisdom at St Mary's sixth form, this slogan wraps up the ad as well as reminding the listener of the name of their sixth form. This leaves their name in their audience’s head, this brand awareness is their goal for this ad. Whilst their campaign uses effective methods Leeds University uses its cross media on a much larger scale, unlike St Mary's ad Leeds Universities cross media works in more than one way, for example everything directs you to the website which can direct you to the rest of their campaign, whereas St Mary's campaign ends at the website giving you no purpose to look further. Leeds University has a much more professional advertising campaign that is much more likely to grab the attention of their target audience. Leeds also does a better job at showing the social side which is arguably just as important as the academic side.
Colorado Mountain college- Audio ad
This advert opens with the question “Have you thought about a new career in the modern world” This instantly makes this college seem modern as well as makes you wonder what they have to say, it then follows up with the statement “Colorado college is exactly what you’re looking for”, this makes the audience associate what they want out of a college with this college. They then talk about their courses; they go on for a long time about information that is not needed unless a person wants to research further. They go into way too much detail for a 30 second ad. This takes up the first 20 seconds of the advert, it then says “for more information, you can go to…” They tell us about their website and their phone number. However due to the detail in the ad it almost feels like there isn’t much more information to find out. On one hand it is clear about what it offers and ensures only people who are interested in these particular courses will visit the website so they reach their target audience however it may make some people disregard the ad entirely. Overall the ad only has one very monotone narrator making it easy to lose any interest that may be there, also the general boring atmosphere from the ad makes this ad something that annoys people especially if it would be heard multiple times without being able to skip, the music in the background is also very generic and not even uplifting, it’s almost jazzy making it seem irrelevant, it is a poor choice of background music. This advertising campaign in my opinion is the worst of the three as it turns a lot of people away straight away, perhaps they had a niche target audience and have included this to ensure they only reach their demographic but they still don't leave much reason to "find out more". Whereas Leeds University makes the campaign all very connected and available no matter what part of the campaign your looking at.
Sources-
Colorado Mountain College- Audio ad
St Mary's catholic high school and sixth form audio ad
St Mary’s catholic High school (Sixth form)- Audio ad
This advert features an uplifting background track, this is heard before the narration comes in, the narration features three voice actors, two students (Male and Female) and one older man who we can presume is a teacher. It begins with the male student saying that at this sixth form he can “Achieve my full potential with support of excellent staff” This straight away tells us that this sixth form has supportive staff as well as an opportunity to reach an individual’s “full potential” suggesting that this sixth form will assist a student and allow them to work to their strengths and remove any limits on their education. The next student then says that at this sixth form she can “achieve the first steps to my future career” this is letting the listener know that they give the training and qualifications for any future job, this is playing of the hope of students getting their dream job making it seem like this sixth form will help them achieve their dream job
The narration then swaps to the adult talking about the sixth forms “98% pass rate”, “Outstanding Ofsted report” and their “100% university placement success”. All of this Is to try and impress the target audience by suggesting it can almost guarantee a pass as well as 100% guaranteeing a University placement if you go to their sixth form. By mentioning the good Ofsted report they are trying to gain the trust of students and their parents by showing off a positive review from a reliable source again simply trying to impress their target audience and let them know this sixth form is a good place to be. After these statements the adult says “You can achieve this and more”. Saying “And more” suggests that these are the basic things that every student will achieve but there is no limit to a student’s success in this sixth form, this opens the idea up for students to then go on and wonder what they could get out of this sixth form, it helps intrigue and convince them to find out what other things this sixth form offers. This is a good use of cross-media as it then makes students visit things like their websites or any other promotional videos online. He then talks about the open day to raise awareness for that in an attempt to get more people to go. It then ends with all three voices saying find your seat of wisdom at St Mary's sixth form, this slogan wraps up the ad as well as reminding the listener of the name of their sixth form. This leaves their name in their audience’s head, this brand awareness is their goal for this ad. Whilst their campaign uses effective methods Leeds University uses its cross media on a much larger scale, unlike St Mary's ad Leeds Universities cross media works in more than one way, for example everything directs you to the website which can direct you to the rest of their campaign, whereas St Mary's campaign ends at the website giving you no purpose to look further. Leeds University has a much more professional advertising campaign that is much more likely to grab the attention of their target audience. Leeds also does a better job at showing the social side which is arguably just as important as the academic side.
Colorado Mountain college- Audio ad
This advert opens with the question “Have you thought about a new career in the modern world” This instantly makes this college seem modern as well as makes you wonder what they have to say, it then follows up with the statement “Colorado college is exactly what you’re looking for”, this makes the audience associate what they want out of a college with this college. They then talk about their courses; they go on for a long time about information that is not needed unless a person wants to research further. They go into way too much detail for a 30 second ad. This takes up the first 20 seconds of the advert, it then says “for more information, you can go to…” They tell us about their website and their phone number. However due to the detail in the ad it almost feels like there isn’t much more information to find out. On one hand it is clear about what it offers and ensures only people who are interested in these particular courses will visit the website so they reach their target audience however it may make some people disregard the ad entirely. Overall the ad only has one very monotone narrator making it easy to lose any interest that may be there, also the general boring atmosphere from the ad makes this ad something that annoys people especially if it would be heard multiple times without being able to skip, the music in the background is also very generic and not even uplifting, it’s almost jazzy making it seem irrelevant, it is a poor choice of background music. This advertising campaign in my opinion is the worst of the three as it turns a lot of people away straight away, perhaps they had a niche target audience and have included this to ensure they only reach their demographic but they still don't leave much reason to "find out more". Whereas Leeds University makes the campaign all very connected and available no matter what part of the campaign your looking at.
Sources-
Colorado Mountain College- Audio ad
St Mary's catholic high school and sixth form audio ad
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