<p>This one made me laugh.</p>
<p>That’s almost as bad as Farleigh Dickinson University’s campaign, “Get FD!”</p>
<p>This reminds me of a university’s motto: Solving today’s problems tomorrow.</p>
<p>Actually, it would be fast work, if today’s problems were solved tomorrow. On the other hand, written up as a motto, the statement just seems to hint at procrastination.</p>
<p>Actually, I don’t think the Drake campaign is too bad, if a bit counterintuitive–it’s pleasing to the eye and would probably grab attention among the 50 million other pieces of college mail. And I think at that stage in the game, for a non-name school, that’s sort of the point. I’m not saying it’s the best thing ever by any means, but I don’t think it’s completely awful or useless, either. Apparently, it tested well, too.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t this ad campaign have been smart with a school that started with…an A? </p>
<p>Even if they had used their name and added + or spelled out the plus, I think it would have been better. </p>
<p>The problem is that if you have to come up with a catchy slogan to get students to your campus, you better think long and hard about the message you are trying to send. If I had sat in on that focus group, they wouldn’t have heard anything positive about this message from me.</p>
<p>When’s the last time a college PR campaign got this much attention? I’m pretty sure this is the best campaign in a long while. A million people who’d never heard of Drake before are now talking about it. It sure beats the hell out of these clunkers:</p>
<p>“ABC University — A Difference of Degree” (Get it? Degree? Cuz we’re a college?)
“XYZ University — Changing the World by Degrees” (Get it? Degree? Cuz we’re also a college?)
“PDQ University — Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders…Today!” (See? Like, irony!)</p>
<p>As the songwriter George M. Cohen said, “I don’t care what you say about me, as long as you spell my name right.”</p>
<p>By the way, I’d better start getting some LOLs about my first post, or y’all are in trouble.</p>
<p>That’s hilarious.</p>
<p>
Hmm…</p>
<p>Mantori, </p>
<p>I wasn’t going to touch it with a 10 foot pole. ;)</p>
<p>That sentence was too ripe with possibilities to turn it into a “That’s what she said” joke. </p>
<p>Gotta love ad agencies. Perhaps you are right - bad press is still press.</p>
<p>Well, Mantori, you spelled his name wrong. It’s Cohan, with an A.</p>
<p>Oh, the irony.</p>
<p>Oh, no! I sure did! The poor man is probably spinning in his grave!</p>
<p>Drake underwhelms me on all levels.</p>
<p>^^
Oh, really?
It has an outstanding journalism school that’s graduated many top people in the profession; strong business and pharmacy programs; a law school that’s produced lawyers and judges galore who do fine work on the state and nation’s courts; wonderful music and theater departments; small classes; attentive professors who actually teach their classes rather than TAs; and a safe and welcoming campus.
And it has me, an alum, who went there because they gave me a financial aid package that meant my single mother earning $7,000 a year did not have to pay for my college education. No one was around to guide me on where to go or how to afford college, but Drake took a chance on me.
It’s a stupid marketing campaign and I don’t care for it. But Drake is a strong Midwestern school and that’s no reason to take potshots at its academics or other attributes.</p>
<p>Glad it worked well for you. I do think it has some good programs, but, overall, I’m not a fan.</p>
<p>How about American and their new “wonk” thing? You can be a political wonk, a business wonk, a green wonk…Really? My teenaged son wants to be a wonk?</p>
<p>I think the AU Wonk campaign is excellent! It actually fits them very, very well.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you want some real publicity, what you should do is arrange to have armed gunmen storm a bank (not with real weapons, of course) and ransack the place, then have two or three conveniently placed “students” step forward boldly and dismantle them with a few well-placed kung fu moves. Then, as the horrified patrons of the bank look on, the students will turn and smile and say, “We learned that from the Criminal Justice Program at ITT University.” </p>
<p>The lawsuits and the ensuing criminal conspiracy trial will keep your college’s name in the news for months!</p>
<p>I feel kinda sorry for that poor mascot- the bulldog is dressed in a satin, feather trimmed short jacket and a matching crown. As Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers said on SNL… really.</p>
<p>Mini - maybe you could help me “get” the AU wonk campaign then. Why does it fit them well? My husband is actually an AU graduate - but I know the school has changed tremendously in the past 30 years. We have a son who is a junior in hs and we are planning to visit AU later this month. I don’t think of my son as a “wonk”. Maybe the new AU is not a good fit for him. He is a B+ student who is interested im majoring/minoring in business and psychology. He is a kind of casual, laidback kid. He is not interested in politics - which makes me already question the fit of AU. He would be interested in Hillel and sports - both as a spectator at basketball games and playing intermural sports. AU is close to us - so it’s an easy visit - but honestly - the wonk thing leaves me thinking it is less of a possible fit for him.</p>
<p>Austin Peay State University in Tennessee has signs all over its campus reading,</p>
<p>“Let’s Go Peay!”</p>
<p>(Yes, it’s pronounced the same as the letter P in the alphabet.)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Well, it still manages to host the Drake Relays every year - in an age when many other track programs and big track meets are dwindling away.</p>