PA college uses personal ads to woo students
 

It really is a whole new world out there these days....

Pa. college woos students with personalized ads

The campaign is an effort to reach media- and marketing-savvy teenagers

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Wilkes University badly wanted 18-year-old Nicole Pollock to be part of its freshman class this fall — so much so that it made her the star of her own ad campaign.

The small, private school in northeastern Pennsylvania plastered Pollock's name on billboards, pizza boxes and gas pumps — and even aired a commercial on MTV — in hopes of getting her to enroll. As one message put it: "We just hope you're on your way to Wilkes University next year."

full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24391900/

I'm sorry, but I find that incredibly creepy.

They consented to have their names used, which makes it a whole lot less creepy to me.

I think it's innovative, and I think it probably will make other people more interested in the school than just a regular billboard or ad. It personalizes the process and makes it seem like the college is really seeking kids from that community.

I wonder how they could be sure to pick a kid that most people liked and knew rather than someone that other kids would say, "oh, no. If that college wants him, there's no way."

I'll ditto SigKap on the creepy factor. Even if it gets other people interested in the school, I wouldn't want to be recognized that way. Ehhh...

Even if they asked first?


I don't know if I would accept the offer, but I wouldn't find it creepy for someone else to do so. I'd think it was kind of funny.

If they just randomly picked a few kids from the applicant pool, and did it without talking to them first, I agree about the creep.

Eh, I guess I just wouldn't consent to "have [my] name used" in that kind of thing. Did they know that's what their names would be used for?

The article said they gave their permission. And I think it was only seven kid's names.

It was a way of raising their profile in certain communities if I remember the content of the article.

And I think it might work. If you knew the kid listed was a great kid from your town, and this college in a good-natured way seemed to be pursuing that kid as the kind of person they wanted, it'd probably get more attention and build a sense of connection to the college in the town.

On the other hand, if it made everyone think they were stalker-ish creeps, not so much.

This smells so desperate to me.

LOLs. In other words, she went across a bridge.

They did that campaign last year - in fact, I was recruiting the girl quoted at the end of that article. I'd be more interested in finding out if it really was everything they promised (no offense if you went there, but I definitely think my school is way better in a lot of ways).

I think the writer missed the point. Wilkes doesn't really care about getting Pollock. They wanted to use her face to attract every kid within 100 miles who can afford 25k a year tuition. Who cares? Penn State plasters Joe Paterno's face on all of their ads. Wilkes doesn't have Joe Paterno. Who did you expect them to use in their ads, a coal miner?

I don't think the ad campaign is much different than most schools. Instead of alumni, current students, or models, they used some local kids.

No, I expect them to use a person who is actually a student. What they did is kind of like McDonald's using pizza in their ads.

But these were real applicants, applicants that they hoped would enroll and were generally the type of student they wanted to attract. I don't see how your analogy works.

If I see a billboard for McDonald's with a pizza on it, I expect to be able to go to McDonald's and order pizza and get one.

If I see a billboard for a college with a student on it, I expect to be able to go to that college and see that student walking around or have other proof that she is enrollled.

I mean, what happens if they get applicants who say "what happened to that Nicole girl that was on the billboard?" "Oh, umm, she ended up going to Haverford." "You made a BILLBOARD for her and pursued her to those lengths and she didn't come here? God, this place must suck."

Clarion pursued me to a degree, but if they'd done something like this, I would have run in the other direction.

Well, they would have asked you first, so it probably wouldn't have gone down like that.

I think as long as they were real applicants, it's not a bait and switch. I think the ads made clear that the students hadn't enrolled yet.

Are you guys REALLY arguing over this?