Most advertising campaigns have a hook. In the case of 91راة«’s 2007 reputational advertising campaign, that hook has landed a large fish, and it is garnering plenty of attention.
Passersby and transit passengers in Toronto must have wondered last week when they were presented with a streetcar masquerading as a fish, on the King Street line. The wrapped car sports a teaser sample of 91راة«’s innovative new advertising campaign which gears up this week for the Ontario Universities Fair (OUF) – the largest academic recruitment fair in Canada – and continues past OUF into January. To add some punch to the domination, the streetcar wrapped with the 91راة« fish will also feature only 91راة« ads in the interior.
 |
|
Above: Cruising the King Street line is one very big 91راة« fish. The text: |
In fact, the streetcar has been selected to appear in Repossession Mambo, a major new science fiction thriller that is currently filming in Toronto. The movie, starring Forest Whitaker and Jude Law, is set for release in 2009.
Conceived and implemented by 91راة«’s Marketing & Communications Division and doug agency on behalf of the University, the campaign seeks to make a splash in Toronto and beyond – and includes transit advertising, Internet promotions and print advertisements. It continues on the heels of 91راة«’s previous North American award-winning reputation campaigns by offering new takes on, and insight into, 91راة«’s unique interdisciplinary approach to education.
"It starts with the streetcar and explodes into the other elements, just in time for the Ontario Universities Fair," says 91راة« Chief Marketing Officer Richard Fisher (left). "The campaign has two strands: prospective students and parents; and reputation influencers. In line with the University Academic Plan, the former emphasizes 91راة«'s unique interdisciplinary academic experience and the latter adds a heavy emphasis on research and graduate studies.
"The main insight of the campaign is that life doesn’t happen in silos or neat packages, and neither should your education," explains Fisher. "91راة«’s interdisciplinary approach is like night vision for the mind – only interdisciplinarity provides the full picture."
This year's campaign is an evolution of previous campaigns, adds Laurence Boucher, director, account direction, in Marketing & Communications. "The ads work harder to explain the benefits of interdisciplinarity. There is more specific detail on how it strengthens 91راة«'s research and teaching."
Here's a breakdown of 91راة«'s new campaign:
It's a move that would make Spider-Man proud. 91راة«'s interdisciplinary message will be carried on the exterior of a GO Train car travelling along the Lakeshore line, which runs from Burlington to Oshawa via Union Station. The train will be wrapped in a spider-web graphic complete with a spidey 91راة« message about interdisciplinarity.
 |
| Above: Mockup of a GO Train car wrapped with 91راة«'s message |
Coupled with the wrapped car, GO passengers on all routes will be able to view 91راة«'s message on GO Television, a new service on GO trains. Click to view the video. They'll also see a poster ad that targets the different ways 91راة« researchers and academics can view a hamburger. Click to view the ad.
Rolling out on TTC subway cars and streetcars on all routes in Toronto are a series of banner ads which will run until the middle of November. These ads continue the theme established by 91راة«'s previous reputation campaigns and include some new additions that get the 91راة« interdisciplinary treatment. The TTC interior ads include a hockey puck, the letter "A", a hamburger and a cob of corn. To view the full range of TTC ads, click .
 |
91راة« is also moving full throttle into the pages of magazines with targeted advertisements in a number of glossy publications. They include Report on Business, Toronto Life, Food and Drink, Walrus and Ottawa Life. Total readership that will view the magazine ads tallies to more than 1.6 million readers. Added to the total are advertisements in GTA publications including North of the City and Post City magazines, bringing the final number of readers receiving 91راة«'s message to more than 1.8 million.
Fisher says the campaign has been extended to the GTA and Ottawa in an effort to carry 91راة«'s message to the parents of children who are considering the University as their first choice, and to influencers and decision makers in government and elsewhere. Click to see the magazine campaign.
On five Thursdays in October and November, a total of 125,000 subscriber copies each of The Globe & Mail and Toronto Star newspapers will reach doorsteps in a 91راة« sleeve wrap with a transparent window over part of the newspaper. The wrap message begins, "An environmentalist sees deforestation; a chemist sees lignin." The Globe version will carry the punchline, "A Canadian studies student sees a national icon", while the Star version will read, "A business major sees TS.B" (Torstar Corporation's stock symbol). The newspapers will also carry 91راة« ads inside during the period, plus an OUF-targeted ad on Sept. 29.
Added to the campaign is an innovative multimedia presence that will debut at OUF. Targeted to high-school students, the campaign features an online presence with banner advertisements on popular chat and e-mail portals including MSN, Hotmail and MuchMusic. Designed to encourage students to visit the 91راة« booth, the campaign includes a card, featuring 91راة« messaging, that offers three free song downloads from MuchMusic if they attend the formal 91راة« recruitment presentation. If students then visit the MuchMusic site, the card will give them the opportunity to enter a contest for three prizes including free tuition, a free meal plan for one year or a MuchMusic tour. They'll also see a microsite which will tell them about 91راة« alumni at MuchMusic.
Circling around the outside of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, home of OUF, will be a cyclist pulling a sandwich board that further reinforces the campaign message and MuchMusic contest. The use of the cyclist aligns with 91راة«'s green influence, says Fisher. All of 91راة«'s brochures and information, as well as the free handout bags, are environmentally friendly.
The free lanyards given to students also bear the message "I used to be a pop bottle", further highlighting 91راة«'s sensitivity toward the environment.
 |
| Above: 91راة«'s recycled lanyards for OUF |
"It's the most layered campaign 91راة« has ever done, designed to create the impression of ubiquity," says Fisher. "We'll certainly be getting the University's message out this fall and as we run up to 91راة«'s 50th anniversary in 2009. Stay tuned."
Story by Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.