How to use graduation ceremony to attract more #highered students: @SNHU newest TV ad campaign

Graduation: that’s why they all sign up for, right?

Most institutions of higher education have focused on the college experience and the associated value they provide to students in their recruitment and branding efforts.

For traditional college-aged students, it makes sense to sell the experience: the beautiful campus, the state-of-the-art gym, the campus life, the incredible campus dining, etc.

College is a rite of passage. It’s where you find what you’re supposed to be when you grow up, where you discover who you are and how you fit in the big picture by leaving the nest, where you can spread your wings through learning experiences of all sorts (in the classroom and at the parties).

Often perceived as a vacation away from the chains of childhood, college is a DESTINATION for college-aged students.
No wonder it has often been marketed as such for so many years in admissions marketing pieces with beautiful shots of facilities, lush grounds and smart-looking yet stylish star professors.

When your parents pay for your tuition or when you don’t have to balance your own family budget with the salary you earn, it’s easier to rationalize a big sticker price when the benefits are so big and the campus grounds so green. You know, a bit like it’s easy to put your beach vacation on a credit card in the middle of winter ;-)

For adult undergraduate or graduate students, it’s another story.
Price, flexibility and outcomes do matter. A lot, actually.

That’s why for-profit institutions and their promise to deliver the degree required to get a better job or an important promotion have been so… profitable for many years.

Fighting the stigma of online programs one graduation ceremony at a time

While a famous for-profit chose to invest millions of dollars in the naming rights of a football stadium (well – college football is also what defines the essence of college for so many), SNHU, the non-profit fastest growing institution online, has been investing some of its marketing dollars on its best ambassadors – its graduates.

And, what better way to show the ultimate outcome of a SNHU online program than graduation?

It just takes 30 seconds in both of these spots to build a strong emotional connection between the online program and its outcome: a real degree from a non-profit (read: not-just-after-your-money) institution.

Spot #1

Spot #2

Well done, SNHU! Well done.