UNIQUE SITUATION

Unitec had an in-house studio but no above-the-line expertise. So it required external consultants to come in develop and manage an outdoor and radio campaign that could be rolled out by its own people.

CHALLENGE

Make trades an attractive proposition for an audience that had increasingly moved into other career areas (enrolment numbers across the seven Applied Technology courses had steadily dropped in the past two years).

SCOPE

Regional billboards, radio and print. Media had already been booked, along with print production and studio, so there was no time to waste.

TEAM

Clinton sourced three creative consultants: Phil Parsonage, Richard Gourley and Leighton Howl. Phil has a good understanding of the tertiary education sector having previously worked on campaigns for Waikato and Massey. While Richard has specific knowledge of the trades, both as a hands-on inventor and art director on building supply brands.

STRATEGY

Money talks so we wanted to highlight the potential earnings of people in trades, break down barriers (and prejudices) and generate enrolment enquiries. The proposition? ‘Fulfil your earning potential, start your apprenticeship at Unitec’.

CREATIVE SOLUTION

A series of 3D billboards with typography constructed from typical trade materials, such as pipes, timber framing and electrical wires. The idea translated into 15” radio based on the idea ‘trades make more’.

THE RESULTS

The campaign contributed to an 11% increase in enrolments, compared to the same period the previous year. Unitec was also encouraged by the attendance at information evenings, which more than doubled at some schools. From a purely creative perspective, the billboards made it onto Best Ads top 6 in the US (as judged by Mother (London) Creative Director.