8 September 2000

University launches "Serious fun" campaign

A campaign of bold and wacky advertisements designed to grab the attention of the youth end of the recruitment market is poised for launch by the University of Dundee on Monday (11/9) to coincide with the annual UCAS form filling exercise for schools.

The quirky advertisements will appear on buses, billboards and posters throughout Dundee, Perth, Angus and Fife as well as on TV and, in a modified form, on radio. Using a handful of visual jokes in vivid pink, tangerine and green, together with the slogan "Serious Fun at the University of Dundee", the cartoon-style ads are already causing a stir, not least in the marketing world.

Director of admissions and student recruitment Gordon Craig, who commissioned the idea from Glasgow company Frame Cunningham, said: "This is a major departure from the sober and informative approach the university has traditionally taken but our research with focus groups tells us in no uncertain way it's what young people respond to. I suppose it's possible the ads could initiate an 'Appalled! Tunbridge Wells' response from some crusty quarters but if our target audience like them that's what counts.

"The message of 'serious fun' is designed to bring out two contrasting factors important in choosing a university - quality of courses and quality of social life. Both of these, I am glad to say, are first class at the University of Dundee."

Some 50,000 postcards derived from the ads are now on stands in pubs and clubs throughout Tayside and Fife and a further 20,000 with matching posters have been delivered to schools.

A new promotional CD Rom "Discover the University of Dundee" has also been launched featuring a virtual campus tour as well as an electronic version of the prospectus and a five minute clip of the official City of Discovery video. Some 10,000 copies of the CD Rom are being sent to applicants and schools both in the UK and overseas. "Electronic based marketing is developing all the time as more and more student recruits have easy access to computers. The CD Rom gives them the opportunity to blend lots of information with something of the real campus atmosphere. We believe we are the first university in Scotland to feature a virtual tour on CD Rom," said Gordon Craig./ends

And are the ads effective? Let's hope so. The truth is we won't know until next year. Funny - they almost certainly are. But don't take my word for it. Go to the University's website (www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/ads2000/) see for yourself and email us your reaction.