Charter College Big Exit

End of year college enrollment campaign

The Challenge

Charter College had a goal to drive January student enrollment, which meant recruiting prospects during the busy end-of-year advertising season. In order to be seen and heard over the holiday marketing rush, they needed a campaign that would help them stand out. The target audience for enrollment at this career training college was those unsatisfied with their current job/career path, looking for a way to make a big change.

Encouraging people to make a ‘Big Exit’

We’ve all had jobs we didn’t like — jobs that bored us; jobs that insulted our intelligence; jobs we dreaded And for every one of those jobs we so desperately wanted to quit, we had a fantasy about how to leave — in grand and glorious style.

The Big Exit campaign tapped into the universal feeling of job discontent. It gives the viewer permission to dream about quitting in dramatic fashion and to move on to something better with the help of a Charter College education.

A fast and furious campaign

A campaign was designed as an intensive, month-long affair, with viewers interacting with its messages through multiple channels. Demographic profiles were created to effectively target audiences through digital banner and Facebook ads, while :30 commercials ran on broadcast television and a :60 version ran on YouTube.

All media drove users to a microsite, where extended cuts showed each ‘quitter’ making their dramatic job exit on their own terms. Site users could vote for their favorite exit strategy, as well as request more information from the school.

The Results

Apparently, lots of people dream of ‘going off’

December tends to be a slow period for school inquiry and enrollment for many reasons and this campaign was designed to jolt prospects into action during a time they typically wouldn’t be engaged.
During the 30-day campaign:

  • 83,218 page views, up 34% compared to Charter College website pageviews same month two years earlier
  • 60,612 unique viewers, up 23% compared to Charter College website unique viewers same month two years earlier
  • 241 requests for information (RFI), up 27% compared to Charter College website RFI submission same month two years earlier
  • 3,750 votes for exit videos

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