Canisius College rebrand

[awinagainov0708 0]

I was hoping to get some opinions on my school's (Canisius College in Buffalo) new marketing campaign. I'm a member of the student senate, and we've been getting mostly negative reviews on it. The agency is 160over90 (http://www.160over90.com/). Some students opinions can be found in this student newspaper article

This is a mailer that was sent to prospective students

These are photos from a local shopping mall

And this is a shot inside one of the buildings on campus

[Greg_Fryman 24]

The mailer is mind blowing Everything else I kinda like it gets me thinking.....

[thespleenenator 71]

>Don't go to College

They honestly thought that was a good idea?

[crashcarson15 2,482]

In this day and age, though, it's all about catching one's attention when they receive college mail -- I simply shred all of mine but I'm much more likely to open up this Canisius mailing.

Actually, I love the branding. It focuses on what schooling -- or more precisely learning -- should be. I say well done.

[Shmee 13]

"Go forth and set the world on fire." is a quote from St. Ignatius Loyola. Most people who see that, especially high school students, will think it's a reference to a song by Fun. That's not a good thing.

"Turn off the computer." posted above a computer lab. What? Strike two.

I can guess, pretty confidently, that the inside of that mailer says "Go Exploring!" Better than "Go to Canisius!" at least.

It's a weird advertising campaign for a small, private, Roman Catholic college. It's a weird campaign for any college, really.

[the admiral 29,095]

I dunno, I kinda like it. That mall seems like it's gotta be one huge ad buy, though.

p.s.: I'd perhaps smudge out that poor guy's address?

[crashcarson15 2,482]

"Go forth and set the world on fire." is a quote from St. Ignatius Loyola. Most people who see that, especially high school students, will think it's a reference to a song by Fun. That's not a good thing.

Well, Canisius is a Jesuit university, so it would make sense to use a quote from St. Ignatius Loyola in their advertising. Nor do I necessarily think they're trying to recruit students that look at it simply as a reference to a song and not looking at the meaning of the quote.

[SG30 15]

Living in the area, Canisus's branding has definitely caught my eye much more than any other college's has, by quite a lot.

[the admiral 29,095]

Do you think their advertising may persuade you to seek a future of intellectual arson?

[Mings 577]

Don't underestimate the potentials of intellectual arson. It'll blow up your mind.

[jzachmanjr 1]

My understanding of the underlying idea here is "real life experiences"... but isn't that every school. I think if the focus was more on those enriching experiences that are unique to the school, rather than simply "disconnecting from the digital world" it would have made more sense. The overall look is fine, but I think the execution of the idea could have been better.

I'm not a fan of the "don't go to college" line, because it feels extremely gimmicky. It immediately made me roll my eyes.

[FGWB 60]

Yay for the Walden Galleria.

But the "Don't Go to College" mailer...whut? Is there another part to that tagline?

[BrandMooreArt 3,766]

graphically its well done and reminds me a bit of Full Sail University, but i agree with Shmee, their message is odd. i don't know the brand and the direction they are taking, but from first glance, it's not quite right. they are an "explorer" brand, they tell you that directly, and the difference between them and Full Sail is that FS is a "magician", a "dream maker" archetype and their message wrapped in the same kind of aesthetic is better suited to this audience. that dosent mean this is a complete failure though, i think it's fine, but it has a bit of a community college feel to it

[leggman01 15]

as someone who works in college marketing, i like the environmental displays and the overall message of the "go exploring" pieces - at least one part of the "don't go to college..." message is finished by the line "just to read textbooks.", so this appears to really support the "go exploring" theme - the tag line was probably used on some soft-lead mailer and they want the recipient to be so intrigued that they open the mailing and read more - if this was used to mail an intro packet to students who had requested information, i wouldn't think this was effective, though...if they are requesting information, they are telling you they WANT to go to college, and your school is one of the schools they are considering - the negative could be a real turn-off in that instance

In this day and age, though, it's all about catching one's attention when they receive college mail -- I simply shred all of mine but I'm much more likely to open up this Canisius mailing.

Actually, I love the branding. It focuses on what schooling -- or more precisely learning -- should be. I say well done.

so this worked for at least one person

one of the most successful SAT search campaigns we ever did had an envelope that said "Don't open this envelope, unless..."

overall, this appears to be a pretty strong campaign, although the work that 160/90 shows on their website is a good deal more "edgy" than what is posted here....

[NoHoJoe 35]

Yay for the Walden Galleria.

Is that a Simon Propery? Kinda Looks like the Nanuet Mall a few months before it closed and got torn down.

Yay for the Walden Galleria.

Is that a Simon Property? Kinda Looks like the Nanuet Mall a few months before it closed and got torn down.

[Top Shelf 16]

Yay for the Walden Galleria.

Is that a Simon Propery? Kinda Looks like the Nanuet Mall a few months before it closed and got torn down.

No, it's a Pyramid property.