[modi123_1]

You gotta get into the mind of the college kid. Start plastering QR codes at the local keggers and indie music venues, more QR codes on soda bottles sold in the local areas, and even some flashy ad (with QR code) stapled to a quality brand condom and hand those out to high schoolers.

[lordofduct]

I remember having to explain QR codes to my brother the other day.

"Dude... shut up... I don't care... that's stupid."

[BetaWar]

Spoiler

Quote

and even some flashy ad (with QR code) stapled to a quality brand condom and hand those out to high schoolers.

But that would ruin a perfectly good condom. Say hello to unsuspecting parents!

BenignDesign, on 03 December 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

Now, however, the thread really isn't supposed to be about web design - it's supposed to be about advertising geared toward students (curse you, LoD and your charismatic derailing!

Sorry about that. I got a little carried away, probably since I haven't done anything visual in quite some time />/>

BenignDesign, on 03 December 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

show me the magic formula so my boss will like me and praise me and let me keep my job. />/>

This sounds like `gimme teh codez`... But I don't think there is a magic formula in this case.

As far as university ads, I am guessing that this is supposed to be used for recruiting and getting more students to come to said university, correct? If that is the case, you could try to spam students with mail, but that will probably just annoy them. Best to have recruiters (or whatever they are called) go to schools and try to get people excited about the school in question. That will work pretty well for at least getting your name out.

If you are attempting to send ads to people who are already students are said uni, well a daily digest of email isn't the way to approach it. My school attempted that (replacing their weekly newsletter) and after I saw the title (and was unable to unsubscribe through their website) I simply marked it as spam. It really is, and annoys me. You would be better off by posting special events on your homepage, especially if your site is organized enough that students go there to find what they are looking for, instead of using google or bing.

Given how lacks people are on security and who they friend (in general) on Facebook or g+ or whatever is the current hot social network, I would think you probably can find a number of people to follow you or like you on those, so having a page available (especially if it is updated frequently with interesting information, such as special events, etc. that are happening on campus) will likely bring additional traffic to at least those third party pages you are associated with. However, there will be a percentage (I am thinking the engineering students here) of students who don't do that type of thing. At which point if you have bulletin boards, I suggest you use them />/> Print ads can be very interesting.

Hopefully that is the back on topic type of post you are looking for />/>

[modi123_1]

Quote

Quote

and even some flashy ad (with QR code) stapled to a quality brand condom and hand those out to high schoolers.

But that would ruin a perfectly good condom. Say hello to unsuspecting parents!

Awww.. don't go off and be 'splaining the joke for everyone!

[BetaWar]

@modi - Very well, spoilered.

[BenignDesign]

BetaWar, on 03 December 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

BenignDesign, on 03 December 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

show me the magic formula so my boss will like me and praise me and let me keep my job. />/>/>

This sounds like `gimme teh codez`... But I don't think there is a magic formula in this case.

The condom joke wasn't the only joke he ruined.

BetaWar, on 03 December 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

As far as university ads, I am guessing that this is supposed to be used for recruiting and getting more students to come to said university, correct?

Yup. Already have a handful of recruiters that hit schools in several states all year long.

BetaWar, on 03 December 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

Given how lacks people are on security and who they friend (in general) on Facebook or g+ or whatever is the current hot social network, I would think you probably can find a number of people to follow you or like you on those, so having a page available (especially if it is updated frequently with interesting information, such as special events, etc. that are happening on campus) will likely bring additional traffic to at least those third party pages you are associated with. However, there will be a percentage (I am thinking the engineering students here) of students who don't do that type of thing. At which point if you have bulletin boards, I suggest you use them

I spend quite a bit of time marketing via social networks. Haven't hit the bulletin boards yet....


And, yes, that is more the type of reply I was looking for... but more of a what specifically catches the eye of the young people. We run all the standard marketing stuff - print, radio, television, social media, snail mail, email, kiosks, card racks, etc, etc... but my boss tends to like everything to have a certain look to it (think the current website feel)... and it just doesn't appeal to the 16-20 crowd. Ultimately, she's tasked me with researching what the kids like and figuring out how to make ourselves more appealing to that demographic at first glance... to catch their eye so they at least consider us. Ultimately, she has final say in what actually gets approved for posting, so it will likely continue to look like everything else we put out there, but I'm trying.

[lordofduct]

stylized minimalism

it's why apple sells so well, they got the stylized minimalism down pact.

It's also why metro got the 'blargh', they went for the minimalism, but missed the stylized part.

Other people miss the mark, because they imitate the exact looks, like the shadow dancing people. Which just comes off as rip-off, instead of applying the same design principal.

Don't rip-off existing looks... apply the minimalist mentality. Limited color palette of complimentary colors, and a small number of deliberate boundaries to describe an item. It's an extension of the "retro" surge going on right now. The younger generation sees the 80's through a selection of media that has limited palettes (Nintendo NES and it's small color palette, neon colors, solid tees, low quality vhs recordings, etc)... minimalism highlights this, and plays on their faux nostalgia.


from this simple google search of "stylized minimalism" (and because google almost always implies modern/contemporary as it's an aggregate of the contemporary social bias, we get "modern" in most of the artsy names)

https://www.google.c...hAYfo9AT1wYCQCg

some examples that stand out IMO:

Spoiler

not saying I personally like (I like a brutalist minimalism ala http://thewalkup.wor.../tag/brutalism/ ), just saying it's popular right now.


Also art is trying to push away from minimalism currently. But fashion and advertising is hitting it's high point with it. Srsly, just look at all the current tech products this year, minimalism is THE THING, it's been brewing for the last 10+ years, but it's finally hit it's high mark in fashion and marketing. Of course it's down hill from here, and the art fags will tell you as such... but that's market advertisements, always immitating yesterday's art.

This post has been edited by lordofduct: 03 December 2012 - 10:09 PM

[Python_4_President]

Lordofduct's initial post pretty closely reflects my own thoughts. However, the only ad I've seen in the last 4 years or so that didn't make me want to go on a personal mission to make it illegal to advertise anything was the frost commercial I saw on hulu one time that simply showed a white screen with small plain text that said something about not being abrasive jackasses, with no audio, for 20 seconds.

Essentially, they pushed the mute button for me, and I thanked them for it. I even, for a brief moment, considered using them for something. I'd never leave my bank, though. They'd kill me if I did.


Now, onto your abomination..

As you can see, I have crayoned all over the important bits.

Red and violet indicate serious problems, yellow, TOTALLY FUCKING IRRELEVANT, and green, I care about this shit, but only because I have to?


To explain (ORDER, LEFT -> RIGHT):
Regular text should not be hyperlinks. Especially not hard to see Hyperlinks. Contrast that shit, you dummy! Bold it or something, too! Don't underline it, though, that shit is hard to read. Plus, all that shit is irrelevant to me anyway. MAYBE services is OK, but I fucking hate dealing with HR/counsellor people and avoid them like the plague.

Who the fuck are those kids? Even if I went to school with them, if I wanted to see their tarded stares, I'd look at facebook.

What the fuck is that shit at the top? I'd never find out because I'd never care.
Get started? Fuck you, it's just college! Where is the fucking Enroll button? I don't care about opportunities, FICA or FISA or whatever, all I care about is filling out my bullshit profile so I can hit the portal, select my classes, pay the stupid fee, etc, etc.


Also, fuck your kids and your teens. I don't have any. I'm not one. I don't want half my page consumed by shit that has nothing to do with me. (You should only show that to people who've registered dependents or have birthdays that put them in range of validity, or otherwise might care. What kind of marketer are you?)

HEY, look there! Two fucking buttons I might actually use (but only because I have to), mixed in with a bunch of shit I will never touch. YAY!

AAANNNDDDD... the rest is bullshit.










Now... If you want to advertise something to the students, the best way to do that is with money, porn, and violence.

Since the board of directors pilfers all the money and spends what they didn't on stupid shit like flowers and parking lots, porn and violence are your only options.

College isn't Wal-Mart or McDonald's. Kids only care about what they have to care about to get the ability to say to some dumfy somewhere, "I r edukatered. I r has surtifuhkat frum callej. I r wurth 6 figyours a yeer."


Get some really hot models to pose with whatever. If you can't get them naked, make them wear skin colored clothes. The doubletake is enough to make the ad stick. Or, if you can't get any really hot models, get some really mean looking guys and give them guns and knives. If guns and knives will get you fired, give them rolled up documents and pose them like they're holding nunchucks and clubs. That'll do more for you than anything else.

Avoid flashy images. Some people do have epilepsy and will sue you.

This post has been edited by Python_4_President: 03 December 2012 - 10:49 PM

[lordofduct]

dude, your post made me laugh my ass off

like srsly, I'm about to piss myself right now.

"AAANNNDDDD... the rest is bullshit."

::bright red laughing::

[Utael]

I'm gonna toss in my2 cents, get your students talking. Throw friggen parties on campus get live music in there once in a while. Word of mouth (read Twitter and Facebook check ins) are by far the easiest and most effective way. There's only so much peddling you can do as an education provider to convince them they need to go to your college. Peers pressure, drunk that beer snort that coke and you could be cool like us.

[BenignDesign]

... and now I'm questioning whether a board full of computer people was even remotely the right place for this. Naked people, large violent men, and snorting cocaine as quality advertising points for post-secondary education?

"Get your degree from our school and you'll be a 'roid raging violent asshole with a drug addiction and all the hot bitches will let you smack them around! w00t!"

It's a college, not the latest game in the GTA series.

Python_4_President, on 04 December 2012 - 12:24 AM, said:

What kind of marketer are you?

I'm not. I'm a coder.

[modi123_1]

This might be a good time to a cross college committee together. You know - a few marketing/business heads, a few art heads, and a few IT heads and come up with a viable strategy... you know - something organic and wholly your own.

[Python_4_President]

B9, the point of my post was that you could reduce your entire page to 2 or 3 buttons.

[modi123_1]

I disagree... there's too much a jumping off page needs for a college than three buttons *you* specifically need.

[BenignDesign]

I understand that - and I do appreciate a brutally honest critique... but you're not going to be the only person visiting the site. There are students, potential students, parents, community members, faculty and staff members, you know what I mean?

I would LOVE to reduce the page to 3 buttons and call it a day... I would save me endless hours of site updates and aggravation, but realistically, that's not a feasible option.