‘CASE’ closed: RRC billboard campaign earns international award
Red River College’s 2015 billboard campaign has attracted some international recognition, scoring a prestigious award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Earlier this month, it was announced RRC’s “Our Grads Get Hired” promotion had won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award (Silver) in the category of Best Advertising Campaign.
The Circle of Excellence is a global awards competition judged by peer institutions from around the world. This year, CASE received 3,356 entries from 10 different countries,
“We are honoured to be recognized by our peers around the globe,” says Christian Robin, RRC’s Director of Marketing and Web Presence. “To be in the company of institutions like Boston University and the University of Melbourne demonstrates once again that Red River College punches well above its weight.”
“Our campaign certainly was innovative — nothing like it had ever been done before, and now I’m working with colleges and universities across Canada to replicate its success in their communities.”
Launched last spring by RRC’s Marketing and Web Presence team, the campaign built on the success of previous alumni-focused promotions, by inviting industry partners to collaborate with the College in showcasing the range of organizations where graduates find employment.
Employers were invited to nominate VIPs from within their organizations, and to share in the cost of promoting their employees’ success on billboards, bus benches, transit ads and other print and digital media.
The pool of respondents was later narrowed down to 40 VIPs, whose images were featured on a series of highly visible ads. In addition to achieving its primary goals — of raising the College’s profile, strengthening connections with industry, and positioning RRC as a solution to Manitoba’s skilled labour shortage — the campaign also generated nearly $40,000 in new revenue.
Earlier this year, RRC’s billboard initiative won the 2016 Manitoba Communicator of the Year Award (Large Campaign) from the Canadian Public Relations Society.