The University of the Arts
How to reach young freethinkers who aren’t always listening.
Next-gen creatives can’t be, won’t be labeled. They sniff out the inauthentic in one click. There’s too much else to see, create, de-construct, imagine. So it was simple. To boost enrollment, we just had to deliver a hit of dopamine as strong as all the other verbal, visual and video signals clamoring for their attention.
Potential UArters needed to see themselves in the lives of current students. With one third of all online activity spent watching video, we had a powerful message-delivery platform. We filmed an ode, of sorts, to young artists, dancers, musicians, composers, dreamers and rule-breakers. It captures community without saying it. Possibility without hyping it.
We helped future students discover UArts through a limited-edition book that was the antithesis of a college brochure. It barely mentioned the school. Instead, it was an emotional, poetic gesture to the kind of people who flourish here. It was shared. Re-printed. And today, it’s in the permanent collection of the AIGA.
Results
During the recruitment campaign period, UArts saw the largest application spike ever in its 130-year history with a record 800 incoming freshman students. For the first time there was a wait list. Endowment jumped from $13 million to over $70 million. And the campaign was supported by wildly disparate constituencies.
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