Norwegian creative school, Norges Kreative Fagskole, was facing fierce competition from other colleges and universities when it came to recruiting students. NKF wanted to maintain the level of applications received in 2007 for 2008 by increasing awareness amongst 18-24 year olds and boosting traffic to the website, particularly in the congested January to April period before applications were due.
NKF recognized that most colleges did not speak in young people's language, instead speaking to young people like their parents. It wanted to make the young people view the school as more of a credible companion rather than a boring grown up, or be the "Mac" among all the PCs in this category.
NFK decided to use its current students as brand ambassadors, starting by creating a website with an online art board. The site was built by some of the current NKF students in partnership with another agency. A prize of a Mac Book was offered for the best artistic contribution.
This was supported by events where students could graffiti the campaign message live when speaking to prospective students and handing out brochures. There was also an indoor event where visitors could stand against a blue screen and have their photo super-imposed onto and illustration by the students. NKF also linked to niche creative sites to encourage a photo competition as well as using some SMS advertising.
As a result of the campaign, there was a 22% increase in applications compared to the previous year. Web traffic was up 69% compared to 2007 and there were 1,500 drawings created on the online art board. The average visitor spent 13 minutes on the site and by the application deadline, 33% of all 19-24 year olds were aware of the ad campaign, on a par with some of the larger general Universities.