During the 2019–2020 recruitment cycle, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Office of Marketing and Communications launched a comprehensive set of lead generation advertising campaigns in support of nearly 15 degree and executive education programs. One of the college’s lead generation challenges in recent years had been a result of weak brand recognition in the market. (The college was formed in 2016 as Cornell merged its three AACSB-accredited business schools into one entity.) Single-program and single-channel advertising campaigns (which were the per-merger norm) didn’t have the now-required “Cornell business” brand emphasis, and media buying was split per program, limiting purchase power. By 2019, some programs that never had an advertising budget now did, but lacked a strong value proposition message. This year, an in-house team designed multiple ad campaigns that included both brand-awareness and program-specific strategies. Each campaign asset, of which there are easily hundreds, is designed as part of the same brand family and fits into a holistic strategy that combines display advertising, paid social media, email marketing, web and landing pages, third-party content, sponsored content, print ads, earned media, search engine marketing, and more.
From the Judges
Strong process, detail, analytics and results. Appreciated the breakdown by school/program—valuable to deans. Creative is powerful—strong continuity, details count, strong performance.
