I am currently working as the site coordinator for a program called A.C.E. or Achieve College Education. This program is a collaboration between Harcum College and I-LEAD Inc. to bring an associates degree program to inner- city communities where obtaining a college education is an obstacle to say the least. This is a rewarding job at times but it comes with many challenges.
One of the greatest challenges of the job is recruiting and retaining students. And just like any other organization A.C.E. has rolled out a campaign to do just that. The campaign has its challenges as well. Because the program is not for profit one of the main challenges of the campaign is money. So the means by which the campaign is executed are limited. Currently we use the website, brochures, Facebook, local television programming, community events, newspaper and local magazine ads. The "slogan" used is "the College of Possibilities in Your Neighborhood".
When printed material and the webpage are the major vehicles of a campaign, money becomes and issue when there are limited funds to put towards improving the materials. In today's society it is imperative to "look" good. We print brochures from our printer in the office and the website is updated in house as well. Though we save a lot of money by doing things this way our printed materials and webpage are not visually appealing. If potential students don't want to pick up the brochure or click off the website without reading the content the purpose of the material is never revealed.
The television programs are difficult to asses the effectiveness of as well. The programs are not frequently played and because they are found on the local television channel its not the first channel that residents turn too. I am sure that to those who watch the channel it is informative. The question is how many people are actually watching.
Community events where we can have an information table is probably the most effective method of "getting the word out". These events give us the opportunity to talk to people face to face about the program and convince them to why the A.C.E. program is right for them. The one on one contact in addition to the print material is a much more measurably effective method of recruiting students to the program.
Billboard, TV commercials on major cable channels, elaborately designed websites and brochures are ideal in successful campaigns. A.C.E. while attempting to be frugal in their campaign I believe is hurtful to the success of the program. Sometimes being cheap make you look, well .... cheap.
This has a great deal of potential. Consider how you are discussing the rollout strategy, as opposed to the design of the commercials/brochures involved. This represents another way of analyzing the campaign. You express legitimate concerns regarding exposure and the means used to reach the target audience. Can you find data that would answer your questions about viewing audience? Also, is there relevant data to suggest that the public access audience - while smaller - may be more receptive of these ads? Does it make economic sense to put the ad on a wider-viewed channel if that audience will not respond? Similarly, you express concern about the brochure's quality; but is there evidence to suggest a correlation between the quality of the brochure and the response it generates? Great themes!
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