St. Louis Community College

The stats weren’t exactly promising. When Paradowski was tapped in 2016 to present concepts for a new and invigorated enrollment campaign for St. Louis Community College, it had been facing years of declining enrollment numbers. In fact, enrollment rates at four-year universities and community colleges have been declining across the country.

Finding creative solutions to stimulate dropping enrollment was not the only challenge in this endeavor. We also needed to develop a fully integrated campaign in 40 working days — keeping within the confines of a lean budget and incorporating a pre-existing media buy with a separate partner.

We developed and installed an on-campus game that continued to challenge student’s minds. Our kiosk held key campaign art as a scrambled puzzle. Once completed, we gathered student emails in exchange for a chance to win money to the bookstore.

We made the grade.

Key campaign performance indicators from the first campaign 3/20 – 4/20/17 (first 30 days) as demonstrated by the microsite analytics were as follows: 13,249 sessions; 20,343 pageviews; 900 actions; 50-percent more pageviews compared to previous campaign. Activity generated from pre-roll contextual ads: 259,253 completed views and 4,056 clicks.

Considering the volume of activity and number of key conversions to apply, STLCC expected to see an overall increase in enrollment for the first time in many years. And did they ever. Our client reported a 12 percent overall increase in enrollment. This not only represents a turnaround for the college, but demonstrates Paradowski’s ability to help it outsmart competitors in a vertical that has been plagued with flat or negative enrollment statistics.

Estimated Total Project Budget: $36,700

Services rendered:

Interactive Touch Screen Game Experience

Concepting

Creative (Copy + Design)

Photography

Interactive Development