Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured image: After intensive research, the Open Your Mind campaign has increased the number of new applications of prospective students, despite a typing error printed in 2015. | Courtesy of York Media
It might have been “enginering,” but York still snagged accolades for its Open Your Mind advertising campaign launched in fall 2015.
York’s campaign received two gold medals in the divisional 2017 Accolades Awards competition for Best Practices in Communications and Marketing in the Platinum category and Institutional Marketing and Identity/Branding. It also won a silver medal in the international 2016 Circle of Excellence competition for the Advertising category.
The Council for Advancement and Support for Education, a professional association serving 3,670 educational institutions in 82 countries, annually holds the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards. More than 100 categories of work are considered by expert judging panels.
Susan Webb, York’s communications and marketing officer, says that the Open Your Mind campaign was seen as a way of creatively articulating the university’s commitment to intellectual curiosity. It sought to attract the interest of prospective students and their parents.
Many feel that it speaks directly to the strengths of the university’s innovative programs and research and that it conveys what is distinct and different about York.
“I think that the campaign is extremely effective. Prospective students don’t just want a degree anymore, they want an experience and that’s exactly what this campaign is selling,” says Lindsay Keenan, a fourth-year graphic design student.
Webb states that the campaign was led by Communications and Public Affairs Division in partnership with advertising agency doug&partners, with broad consultation from the university community.
She shared that following the first year after the marketing went live, quantitative research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of their advertising efforts. According to the research, the campaign was shown to have a positive impact on target audiences.
She adds that the paid media investment for the institutional Open Your Mind campaign is in line with last year’s investment of approximately $2 million dollars.
However, critics argue that the campaign is misleading, as it presents a glorified idea of academic programs at York.
“While the photographs and cinematography are beautiful, never once have I have felt that it accurately reflected any of the actual programs offered at York. The reality is that our classrooms are just normal classrooms,” says Keenan.
Critics further argue that the campaign’s message is too vague, with ads displaying images of a rainforest, scuba diving and dramatic rising red moon.
While some think that York is trying to sell the idea that their programs prepare students for the real world, they don’t explain how their programs achieve this.
Many assert that it would have been better to communicate specific examples of how their programs are relevant in the workplace.
Results, however, are key criteria for winning any CASE award. The Open Your Mind campaign yielded a significant impact on audiences—contributing thousands of applications to study at York.
With files from Jonny Chard
