Pencilvent Portfolio | GUST University

SUMMARY

GUST a well-established college in Kuwait has continually improved and expanded its educational and organizational capacities while steadily increasing its enrollments. At its first commencement ceremony in June 2007, GUST conferred diplomas on approximately four hundred graduates, many of whom were eagerly received by the leading business sectors in the state of Kuwait. So now it was time again to increase its student enrollment, with a target to fill its capacity especially with its new departments and college growth.

OUR ROLES

Creative Online & Offline Campaign
TVC

CHALLENGE

_{Kuwait’s first established private university has been steadily growing and expanding since it first opened its doors to an eager community of students and faculty who wanted a homegrown institute of higher education operated by international teaching and study practices. GUST has achieved that and have kept looking forward, growing and doing the utmost to become more with the start of each academic year.}

INSIGHTS

_{What they were encountering now was another planned growth spurt, this time in their academic departments, and what they needed, like all universities, was the student numbers to fill class seats.}

_{The challenge we were tasked with was to match enrollment with campus and departmental growth.}

_{Could we hit that coveted 1:1 ratio?}

SOLUTION

REDEFINING CLIENT / AGENCY COLLABORATION

What we learned in our market research was that Kuwait was very similar to other nations in that many students who graduate from high school have no intention of going out of city, country, state to continue their higher education. Students who remain in their hometown have advantages that other peers do not have. They have their roots settled, they may have a car, they have family nearby, they have friends, they do not have to suffer a period of adjustment, they know the city they live in and how to get around, and, they save money. They feel comfortable when they attend their first class as opposed to the struggles that other freshmen go through in order to relocate, settle, make new friends and more just to get through the first semester.

With all relevant information we decided to proceed with a time-sensitive campaign that was creative, spoke to potential students in their own words and was upbeat and positive in tone. It made them think: “this is a place i would like to go!”

_{It included a colorful, creative online and offline campaign with print ads and a tvc to wrap it all up. We renewed the campaign as needed to return the biggest gains on to the university.}

The timing helped the buzz generated by the campaign rise to the levels we had hoped for. Chatter on social media about the campaign and the immensely shareable nature of the content meant that everyone had an opinion on it and were sharing it with their friends, and college-aged groups in Kuwait. The reception was positive and engaging.