Students tout 'My University' in TV campaign
- November 20, 2007
Whether you've tuned your television to the latest breaking news on CNN, sports on ESPN, or the music on MTV or VH1, you may have witnessed any of 32 students who utter the words "Cal State East Bay is my university."
What you were seeing is part of Cal State East Bay's six-week "My University" television campaign that started Nov. 1 to create awareness and recognition for the state university that serves the East Bay's two counties, 33 cities, and 2.5 million population.
"As an awareness campaign, the objective is to increase the visibility of Cal State East Bay, build affinity, and communicate a position of choice as well as distinction, setting our university apart from other regional competitors," said Jay Colombatto, executive director for university communications. "Its primary objective is not to solicit enrollment applications, per se, but rather to build a foundation for a long-lasting position of choice among key constituents ranging from prospective students and influencers to friends, donors, voters, citizens, and legislators."
But the campaign goals include reinforcing the growing trend of Cal State East Bay as a destination of first choice for current high school seniors who will enter college as freshmen starting with the Fall 2008 quarter. CSUEB's enrollment of first time freshmen grew more than 20 percent this fall compared to the same period in 2006.
Representing the university on the three different 30-second TV commercials are 16 male and 16 female freshman students. They represent a diversity of majors, interests, and cultural backgrounds and were recruited during Freshman Orientation, move-in day at the Pioneer Heights student apartments, and at three general studies classes.
"I went into the classes, gave a short talk about the TV campaign, and asked students interested to come in groups of five to a room in which we were shooting the commercials," said Dan Bellone, marketing communications manager for CSUEB. "The students were selected to represent the university's diverse student body."
Running through the early part of December, the TV campaign comprises more than 6,000 TV spots that are being aired on 20 different channels of Comcast cable throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
"The East Bay is our core market," Colombatto said. "Our target demographic audiences are teens and young adults up through the age of 24, as well as adults 35 to 54."
The Cal State East Bay TV commercials figure to reach more than 550,000 households in the two East Bay counties on VH1, The Discovery Channel, Comedy Central, ESPN, BET (Black Entertainment Television), CNN Headline News, MSNBC and TV Land.
Besides the 30-second commercials, the campaign includes 50 additional "sponsor billboard" announcements ("brought to you by Cal State East Bay") that air each week during the campaign on Bay Area High School Sports aired via Comcast Video on Demand in 21 Bay Area market zones. In addition, the spots are aired at least three times each during nine televised Pac-10 football games on ESPN.
If you missed seeing any of the TV campaign spots, they can be viewed online at http://www.csueastbay.edu/communications/TV_Radio/.
"As viewers will see," Colombatto said, "it is the authenticity, sincerity, pride, and engagement of these freshman students who make the spots as effective as they are."
