University of North Carolina
Admissions campaign for some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. These intrepid souls wade through seas of applications every year and do their best – which is very good indeed – to select the optimal incoming class. The admissions office's team of "readers" studies each potential Tar Heel, looking not just for SAT score and GPA, but individuality and passion. They weigh numbers against essays, and factor in glowing letters of recommendation. They discuss as needed, arguing the merits and drawbacks of borderline candidates. They drink a lot of coffee. Their proud, annual accomplishment is a First-Year class of students who will benefit from a UNC education while contributing to the culture there.
Our goal? Communicate the specialness: what makes this place different. And stand out from the avalanche of collateral received by your average bright young 17-year-old. It wouldn't have been right, or fair, to see UNC-CH using the standard, glossy, "three-and-a-tree" imagery and messaging that reflects pristine campuses and multicultural students. There's more to Carolina than that, of course, and we sought out the idea, imagery and language that would resonate with just the type of person our clients are looking for.
What we found in talking to students and graduates was that they almost universally felt they'd learned as much from their peers as from their professors – which fascinated me. "Wow," I thought. "How do we tell prospective applicants that some of the highlights of their time at Carolina... may not even have enrolled yet?"
We developed a web site - mobile-friendly, of course - videos and elements for sharing on social media, and an array of printed pieces for mailing. It was rewarding to collaborate with this client on the whole shebang: From the piece you'd receive as a high-school Freshman, which outlines the UNC philosophy in broad strokes, all the way through that reassuringly hefty envelope to be yanked out of the mailbox by excited young folks across the state and country. (Headline: "You're in.")
ADs: Kayce Lomas, Ryan Cuthriell
CD: Lindsey Bennett
Photographer: Jimmy Williams
Decided: Luis Segovia
To make the most of the Admissions department's budget, we worked with some of their students to develop a template for the "Decided" video series. It's built to accommodate an interesting peek into one student's journey toward finding a Major, and can be shot and recorded with an iPhone.