Campaign plans to move college marketing in a ‘bold’ direction
Editor-in-Chief
The Hudson Valley Marketing and Communications department has come up with a new addition of “That’s Bold” to add a new approach for new incoming students.
“Essentially what we are doing is, we are working to refresh our brand with a new creative approach,” said Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Dennis Kennedy.
The school’s tagline “Be Bold. Be a Viking” was meant to make students feel proud to come to Hudson Valley. “It means it’s providing prospective students in particular with the permission to feel proud to be a part of our community,” said Kennedy.
“Underneath the ‘Be Bold. Be a Viking’ brand, we have a new creative treatment that is highlighting our key messages and key differentiators in a new way,” he added.
With this new message, the school is making statements about college affordability, about quality academic programing and campus life to encourage students to enroll.
The school over the past several years has done surveys with the students to see how they feel about the campaign. According to Kennedy, 93% of the students either liked or loved the campaign.
“The way that the school put together all the information for the ‘Be Bold. Be a Viking’ tagline is a smart way to get students in the door,” said individual studies major Rhianne Pinke. “The new addition of ‘That’s Bold’ definitely gives it a stronger feel and a stronger message about what the school has to offer,” she said.
The marketing department has teamed up with IdeaAgency, which now works with Hudson Valley to make new commercials and campaigns.
“What is bold? It’s daring to base choices on hard facts, not popular opinion. It’s refusing to accept that the only way to climb higher is on a mountain of debt. It’s throwing old formulas out of the window and opening your mind to new ways to reach your goal,” said account manager of IdeaAgency Jen Obregon.
The new commercial will begin airing on TV and online towards the end of October. Kennedy said that they do it around this time because that’s when high school students are starting to look at colleges.
The commercial was filmed exclusively by a drone. “It’s one looking to show off the wonderful campus that we have, and to show off the personal connections that are created among students, and among students, faculty and staff,” said Kennedy.
The school did hold focus groups with students to show them some options of new possible campaigns and to get their feel of what would attract students.
“In a nutshell, we are updating our look, feel, imagery, and messaging still within the ‘Be Bold. Be a Viking’ brand to stay fresh and to put a creative approach in the marketplace,” said Kennedy.