Videos go Viral
The University of Indianapolis received recognition at the 2010 HighEdWeb Conference for a series of “Personal Attention Unleashed” videos released on YouTube.
The marketing videos are short commercials that feature professors interacting with students ways that exaggerate the personal attention the small class sizes allow. The original four videos are being expanded, with the assistance of Burkhart Cain Associates, a local marketing and public relations firm.
“The initial goal was to create something that would potentially go viral,” said Jason Nye, digital marketing manager for UIndy.
“We were trying to look at some things that might not be your typical student talking in front of a camera. We wanted to present it [the promotional videos] in a new light.”
The original set of four videos features UIndy students and professors in odd situations, such as a professor delivering coffee and waking a student to review for an upcoming class discussion. The release helped to launch the UIndy YouTube channel.
While originally designed to be for social media and viral advertising, the videos recently have been airing on central Indiana TV networks.
“Our intent was to have something to put through social media that would be effective,” said Joe Solari, UIndy director of marketing. “We weren’t really looking to these for TV spots. They were so well-received that we thought they might work for TV.”
The UIndy marketing team worked with Spotlight Cable to purchase specific regional advertising times targeted for 12 to 24-year-olds. The advertisements run in between typical adolescent programs, such as “Family Guy.”
“The idea is that these professors are invading, for lack of a better word, a student situation,” Nye said.
The concept garnered recognition at the 2010 HighEdWeb Conference in Cincinnati. Speaker Mallory Wood, assistant director of marketing at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, used one of the videos in her presentation as an example of exemplary marketing.
“It really gets the point across,” Wood said. “The sense that the faculty really care and that they want to see me in class. And it was done in a funny way.”
Wood cited high production quality and the unique humor as key aspects of the videos.
“My first thought was ‘I really hope this was on television,’” Wood said. “It works for TV in a way other videos would not.”
The marketing team has other tactics as well.
“The UIndy name is very prevalent throughout the city, featured on billboards along I-465 and in sponsored segments on local radio stations,” Nye said.
Another angle to this marketing campaign was the Dog Bowl. Originally conceived as a contest to help launch the UIndy Facebook page, the Dog Bowl grew into a way to further increase student involvement in the Personal Attention Unleashed marketing. UIndy plans to continue hosting the contest annually.
“It’s one thing to develop a script, but it’s another thing to have students produce them [videos],” Nye said.
According to Solari, the advertising market is rapidly changing and adapting to it can prove challenging. However, he said that the marketing team is working to explore the new options as they emerge.
“The whole area is evolving so rapidly that like everybody else we’re trying to do it strategically instead of just diving in,” Solari said.
The marketing team is exploring the prospective uses of geo-tagging softwares such a SCVNGR (pronounced Scavenger), a program for smartphones that allows interactive activities and scavenger hunts in areas.
Four more Personal Attention Unleashed videos are currently in production and should be unveiled upon completion.
