Expect to see advertisements for St. John’s University flood the media market throughout the metropolitan area as the global University—which offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs to a diverse student community—launches a major marketing push in the local region.
“Education That Elevates” is the theme for a multiyear, multimarket, branding campaign that aims to raise awareness of the University and promote the academic distinction of a St. John’s education to multiple target audiences. It specifically focuses on residents and visitors to the five boroughs and Long Island as more than 80 percent of St. John’s 193,000+ living alumni reside in the tristate region.
“The mission of St. John’s is to help students climb the ladder of success,” stated Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of St. John’s. “For more than 150 years, our student outcomes have demonstrated that our founding and enduring charge continues—and only grows stronger—along with the University.”
St. John's branded Hampton Jitney
Outdoor ad placements are strategically selected to reach travelers along some of the busiest and most-traveled roads in New York City and at transit hubs that attract commuters from Manhattan, NY, to the tip of Montauk, NY, and in between. The campaign includes a mix of advertisements, including a fleet of bus sides from local depots, a complete wraparound of the ubiquitous Hampton Jitney, Long Island Rail Road platform signs, digital and static high-impact billboards at critical local roadways, and 30-second spots airing on local news and connected television.
Central to the campaign and reflective of the global reach of the University is an eight-foot-tall and six-foot-wide statue of the St. John’s University crest that appears in the exhibit space in Terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. Working with Clear Channel Airports, the University’s Office of Marketing and Communications has designed an illuminated statue, built by ExpoDesign, which will be on display throughout the spring. It is a visible welcome to domestic and international travelers and a nod to the roots of the University that for the last century-and-a-half has served immigrants and their children.
“Our diverse students not only come from around the corner but from around the globe, and they make a world of difference,” shared Simon G. Møller, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University Distinguished Professor, and Provost Endowed Chair.
St. John's brand campaign at LaGuardia Airport
JFK Airport is the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America, the 20th busiest airport in the world, and the sixth busiest airport in the United States. The impressive exhibit space there includes three large-format, digital screens situated at the entrance of Concourse B and over the escalator to the domestic arrivals area, and a highly trafficked space in the Delta Hub terminal, which includes 30 international carriers, adjacent to world-class dining and shopping. At nearby LaGuardia Airport, a digital campaign utilizing a synchronized network of 22 digital screens located in walkways and over baggage carousels throughout the arrival area of Central Terminal is included.
The indoor/outdoor campaign is complemented by a mobile extension. To expand the impact of the campaign and to better deliver a unique brand message beyond the initial outdoor impression, each outdoor unit is geofenced to target the mobile devices of passersby. This addition allows the University to increase its reach and frequency while further diversifying its media mix.
Known locally as “New York’s Team,” the University will leverage prior athletic marketing partnerships ensuring that brand ads will also appear in UBS Arena, the home of the New York Islanders, and at New York City Football Club (NYCFC) home games at Yankee Stadium, CitiField, and Red Bull Arena.
The combination of the high-impact outdoor placements, striking experiential marketing units, frequency of mobile retargeting, and reach of local news and connected TV spots differentiate St. John’s from its competition and deliver an innovative campaign.
