Case studies

Making accounting attractive:
A PwC Case Study

Overview

Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was facing a decreasing pool of college students interested in accounting as an alluring profession. Increasing competition for qualified applicants, coupled with a diminishing talent pool at some of their top recruiting campuses, PwC realized the need for an extensive branding and recruitment campaign on campus.

With national youth marketing firm Campus Media Group, Inc., PwC set out to:

Strategy

PwC didn’t just blindly place a few recruitment ads in a few college newspapers. They had a more deliberate approach. The PwC strategy was an early outreach effort that paralleled their campus recruiters with the expertise of youth marketing agency Campus Media Group, and faculty on campus. The primary media vehicle used in this effort was a succession of highly targeted full page ads in college newspapers. These print advertisements were placed in about 75 targeted newspapers, with the media buying and management handled by Campus Media Group. Full color was used when available. PwC’s creative was second to none, and their presence dominated. Because of colorful design and Campus Media Group’s long standing relationships with college newspapers, PwC was able to achieve preferred ad placement within the pages of these student publications. Consistent placement on pages two, three, and the back page were commonplace throughout their campaign giving them better exposure and a perception of leadership in the minds of students. Campus Media Group provided PwC with accurate college newspaper data such as ad rates, sizing specifications, and publishing schedules to ensure a high placement success rate. In some cases, more than one possible publication existed within the school. Knowledge of those newspapers and their respective audiences allowed PwC to make a more accurate decision as to which publication(s) to place their ads in.

Results

This campaign garnered PwC positive attention, and resulted in some stellar results. Not only did PwC become the number one rated employer brand on campus, but quality application submissions increased, as did traffic to their website. Figure 1 shows that applicants rose from 15,000 in 2001 to 42,000 in 2004. Furthermore, applicant grade point average also increased in quality from an average 3.44 in 2001, to 3.51 in 2004. In regards to web site traffic, PwC saw a substantial rise in unique website visitors. In 2001 PwC had 12,000 unique visitors, but raised that number to 60,000 by 2004.

Stay Near Go Far:
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

Overview

Using a strategically timed mix of youth media, Bloomington, MN based Campus Media Group, Inc. and Korn Hynes Advertising set out to develop a youth media plan for New Jersey’s Seton Hall University. The goal was to increase the number of transfer student applications from two-year schools in the region. While New Jersey has many nationally ranked educational institutions, many of the top graduates from high schools and two-year schools transfer to out-of-state schools thinking that better educational opportunities lie elsewhere.

Strategy

The goal of our creative strategy was to alter this perception by delivering a targeted message that New Jersey – Seton Hall in particular – offers students the same level education as out-of-state schools. To deliver this message powerfully and effectively, Campus Media and Korn Hynes created a regional youth advertising campaign that consisted of the placement of print advertising in a number of campus newspapers at two-year schools, in unison with other on-campus location media such as posters and table tents. Targeted direct mail to students was also used throughout the campaign for added reach.

Results

The “Stay Near Go Far” campaign proved to be a huge success with a message that resonated well with students in the New Jersey area. This youth campaign raised awareness about Seton Hall’s academic excellence and breadth of course offerings. As for the primary goal of increasing student applications? Seton Hall University saw a dramatic 19% increase in applications for the spring of 2004.

Overview

Research by the University of Minnesota points to a major public health crisis being played out on college campuses nationwide: Statistics show that 20% of students actually began smoking in college. 50% of students intensified their smoking in college. Overall, campus smoking rates have doubled in the last decade and are currently about twice the rate of the overall adult population.

Strategy

In their effort to raise awareness about nicotine addiction and motivate young adults to quit smoking sooner rather than later, Campus Media used targeted student email to self-identified college smokers. The emails drove traffic to a blog (www.quitnowblog.org). All promotions used sarcasm and irony, rather than authoritative language that helped play into the “voice” of college students today.

Results

A total of 1,548 student smokers opened the email and clicked on the link to go to the blog site. The fun and compelling message on the email gave us strong numbers of recipients who clicked on the link in each of the three blasts: 16%, 30% and 32%.

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