Sylviane Duval
The phrase is everywhere: in bus shelters and on buses, in the daily newspapers and on the Ottawa Citizen and CBC Radio websites. On October 27, the University of Ottawa launched its major student recruitment campaign. The goal of the intriguing message in the advertisements is to pique the curiosity of prospective students and direct them to the campaign’s website, www.seektoknow.ca. The hope is that once there, young people will be drawn in by the site and interested in exploring further.
The “It starts here” campaign is in its third year, but its interactive microsite is brand new. Online, students are invited to take a test that asks them to choose between a series of words (“local or international”, “generalist or specialist”, etc.), some of which are already part of the advertising. They are then given a fun description of their personality, which they can share with their friends on Facebook through a few clicks of the mouse. By sharing, they will encourage other prospective students to go to the microsite. “It is a contagious advertising strategy that allows potential students to promote the website among each other”, explains Lucie Keech, Acting Director of the University’s Marketing Department.
Today, the Web is definitely the best way to reach young people, who are often tech savvy from a very young age. According to Statistics Canada, the Internet is the primary (and often only) source of information for members of this group, 92% of whom send email messages, 45% make purchases online and 32% identify the Web as their source of entertainment. There is no question that electronic media is crucial to capturing the attention of young people, but the traditional media also has a role to play once the computer has been turned off.
The University focuses its recruiting efforts mainly in its traditional recruitment area of the National Capital Region, but it does maintain a presence right across the country. For the first time this year, the campaign has been rolled out in Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. It is also back in Québec and Montréal for a second year.
Descartes said: “I think, therefore I am”. Inspired by this famous philosopher, the young people whom the University of Ottawa hopes to encourage to think might say in their turn: “I think because I want to succeed”.
