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Concordia’s image on the move 

By Karen Herland

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There’s a lot more to Concordia than people imagine they know.

That’s the basis for a new multi-tier marketing campaign set to launch Oct. 15.

“People might know Concordia in just one way,” said Sami Antaki, newly named Executive Director, University Communications Services. “We want to show the world that we are not just a uni-dimensional university; that there are many interesting areas of learning and research across the faculties that deserve to be known, and that can easily attract students to our campuses.”

This year’s campaign builds on the series of ads that began to appear last February that feature a single area of interest or expertise per ad. That campaign will continue this year with monthly ads in The Gazette and Le Devoir — there will be six ads in each paper between now and February — as well as ads in more specialized publications, such as Policy Options and Decouvrir.

If the print ad campaign forms the base of the university’s marketing strategy, the transit campaign is its most visible element, and the one geared mostly towards student recruitment. Once again rather than focusing on displaying a single message in the transit ads the campaign features many different areas of interest.

Community involvement, campus life, and several areas of study—among them contemporary dance, small business management, plant genomics and internet security—are being featured on metro platforms in Laval and around CEGEPs, as well as on metro cars and commuter trains.

Similar ads will also be featured on buses across eastern Canada from Halifax to Hull/Gatineau, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Lévis.

The university is also taking advantage of its membership in the Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain to launch a two-phase billboard campaign. Beginning in October, Concordia will be featured on 10 billboards that promote the Board of Trade. The campaign, which runs for six weeks, features the tag line “J’ai partagé mon savoir dans ma chambre” and directs people to the website of the Chambre de commerce where Concordia will be featured.

In early January, the second phase of the campaign kicks in, with Concordia receiving exposure on another 10 billboards for a further six weeks. These billboards to be located near CEGEPs will each feature an area of research or learning from one of our four faculties. There will also be billboards featuring campus life. The intent is to create interest in Concordia prior to our annual open house and before registration begins.

“The information we received from the recruitment office helped us determine which cities we are advertising in,” Antaki said. “Similarly, we will work with recruitment officers to determine what programs are strong in different CEGEPs so that the nearby ads will underscore what Concordia can offer in that field. We want to help people make an intelligent choice about coming here, because there’s something here specifically for them.”

The print ads will be complemented by a 15-second ad produced in-house that will run on the screens in the major metro stations. All ads will direct viewers to a website that will provide them with an entry point to Concordia, and so that the effectiveness of the campaign can be monitored.