Ads in The New York Times. Brainteasers at Fenway Park. Billboards hanging over the interstate. Northeastern has put its name out there and spent the money, so now the only question is: was it all really worth it?
A News interview with President Richard Freeland on Oct. 18 aimed to answer that question.
The ad campaign launched by President Freeland last May was a three year effort, and is still within the early stages of implementation. However, Freeland believes that from what they can tell so far, the campaign has been a success.
“The deep goal of the campaign is to increase the visibility and reputation of Northeastern. To get inside people’s heads a picture of Northeastern as a major, high-quality university,” Freeland said. “I believe that is a terribly important goal for the long-term strength of the institution.”
As far as new students perhaps being influenced by the ad campaign, applications to Northeastern rose this year by about 1,000. Freeland believes it is hard to say whether or not this increase was directly related to the ad campaign, and pointed out that it may be too early to tell.
“A lot of the ads are geared towards students who are in high school now, looking to apply to Northeastern a year from now,” said the Director of University Communications Ed Klotzbier.
Freeland said the campaign is not aimed just to increase the number of applicants, although an increase in the number of quality applicants is something the university is looking to accomplish.
“You look inside your head and everyone has a picture of what the top universities in the country are, and you would probably agree about a fair number of them. We need to be part of that picture and part of that list,” he said.
As for the ads at Fenway Park, Freeland said they drew fun and positive attention to the university. More than just visible in the stadium, Klotzbier pointed out that the TV commentators also drew attention to the university. The announcers would comment on the “Northeastern Brainteaser,” a baseball related trivia question that appeared on the scoreboard screen at a certain point of the game.
Freeland was adamant that the students know that the advertising dollars spent at places like Fenway Park were not in the millions. Although the exact monetary details were not disclosed, Klotzbier insisted that Fenway Park was a great deal.
“Every other college in town wants to know what we’re doing there. It’s one of the best buys going, and they know it. For the benefit of the buck, it was a very smart deal on our part,” he said.
Freeland also showed concern for the student reaction to the ad campaign. Do the students feel that this was money well spent?
“It was a good campaign because people took notice,” said Meg Ronsani, a sophomore political science major. “I felt it increased our value as a school by having people recognize our name.”
Kathryn Sotnik, a senior communications major agrees.
“If the advertising campaign will put the school in the top 100 then that is good for me and for my degree. Northeastern needs to move up [the rankings] and the time to do that is now,” she said.
Freeland is also committed to that idea, and although he is not sure of the path Northeastern will take with its advertising dollars in the future, he is pleased with its success so far.
“We will evaluate each component as we go ahead. We are not committed to this or that design, or this or that billboard, or this or that form of advertisement,” he said. “But we are committed to the overall effort.”
