Student Recruitment Campaign
for Maclean’s Magazine
Client: Western University
Responsibilities: Creative direction & graphic design
Insight
The higher education competitive set can appear as a ‘sea of sameness’, with an approach to brand marketing and design that can skew conservative and outdated. Additionally in this day and age, the achievement of obtaining a university degree is table stakes. Western University needed to firmly set themselves apart from their competitors to break through and connect with prospective students. There was a need to demonstrate that Western’s inspiring and enriching experience allows for their students to make a bigger impact.
With an integrated digital and print advertising campaign in Maclean’s Magazine, the goal was to drive recruitment efforts and create positive brand perception among prospective students and their parents.
Solution
Taking the approach of expressing the brand through the lens of human experience, we feature students who are making an impact in the Western community. Through the use of expressive macro photography, an intimate feeling is created which compels a read. I’ve opted to create a sense of warmth through shooting during “golden hour” against an iconic living green wall on campus, to cut through the standard “stock photo” look that is typical of higher education institutions. Using a series of descriptors and attributes as a headline, it quickly builds a sense for who these young leaders are, and who the target audience can also become when they realize their full potential at Western.
