Portland State University has a two year master's program in Book Publishing — and top of that, a student-run publishing house called Ooligan Press where students get to create real books.
Each of their books tell unique stories about the Pacific Northwest.
How do we bring more aspiring book publishers to the west coast?
When Ooligan Press came to FIR Northwest, they wanted us to design a recruitment campaign to increase enrollment.
The main challenge was that book publishing programs on the east coast are known for being more prestigious than Ooligan Press. For many students in the industry, it's more common to start a career in somewhere like New York.
However, Portland State is the one graduate program in the country with a student-run press, and they have the privilege of being the only publishing program west of Texas.
What did the research tell us?
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After conducting extensive interviews with current and past students, we found three key insights:
1. People care deeply about Portland.
2. Hands-on work is a huge differentiator.
3. Ooligan Press helps people discover themselves.
Campaign Idea: Bring a Book to Life
At Ooligan Press, you will have a genuine, hands-on experience. Therefore, it was important to show aspiring students that if they choose Portland State, they get to make real books. And for those looking to start a career after college, it's crucial to have experience they can really speak to.
This concept was visualized through several videos on both Instagram and Facebook. The videos displayed their most popular books, and were animated to look like they were actually coming to life. We ran the campaign for a whole month leading up to the deadline, April 1st. Two examples can be seen below.
Social Media Caption: Gain first-hand experience with a master's degree in Book Publishing at Portland State University. Apply by April 1st.
Ad #1 - Ricochet River
Ad #2 - Sleeping in my Jeans
Landing Page
If someone decided to click on the "Learn More" tab below the Instagram or Facebook ad, they would be sent directly to our landing page.
It was set up as an easy tool for potential applicants to learn more about how to register. It also contained a link that helped them easily navigate to Portland State's application page.
Photo Courtesy of Danielle Emeka
Targeting Strategy
Since Portland State has the only master's program in Book Publishing west of Texas, it was best to use social media to reach those in Washington and California. More specifically, upperclassmen and recent graduates age 22 to 30 who live near major universities on the West Coast.
Unfortunately, we did not reach their goal of 100 applicants by April 1st. We did, however, exceed our other success metric: more than 1,500 clicks to their website. While they didn't receive the desired amount of applicants in the short term, the increase in engagement tells us that they will have plenty more excited students waiting to apply in future years to come.
Photo Courtesy of Danielle Emeka
The Team
Account Managers
Bailey Arvidson-Goodell
Jeanie Ng
Strategists
Roark Nelson
Kevin Nickoloff
Ashley Peters
Maranda K. Seney
Media
Caitlin Sauer
Art Direction
Danielle Emeka
Bao Phan
Copywriters
Tobin Carlberg
Samuel Barnes