To view the new billboard artwork go to www.wichita.edu/billboards.
New ad campaign targets ‘Thinkers, Doers, Movers & Shockers’
By Joe Kleinsasser
What perception do people have of Wichita State? After getting outside perspective from the National Advisory Council, a 90-member board advising the Endowment Association, the message was loud and clear. The university needs some "feel good" advertising and greater visibility.
Several possible messages were tested with a variety of audiences, including current and prospective students, teachers, counselors, donors, alumni, parents, faculty and staff. The favorite was Thinkers, Doers, Movers & Shockers.
Elizabeth King, vice president for university advancement, said, "Across the board, people remarked with pride about the superior quality of WSU’s students, faculty and alumni. We are thinkers, doers, movers and Shockers. Without exception, these WSU stakeholders encouraged the university to market this message with pride."
The new theme is already in use, announcing the start of WSU’s summer session, said Rosa Diaz-Mulryan, director of publications and advertising. Radio spots are airing on KICT or KKRD in Wichita and on stations in Lawrence and Manhattan.
Outdoor billboards displaying the new theme are on I-135, north of the K-96 interchange (facing north) and on Airport Road (facing south). Two indoor airport displays go up in early May at Mid-Continent Airport.
The theme is also in print advertising. Ads announcing the start of WSU’s summer session will run in The Wichita Eagle, Wichita Business Journal and in university student newspapers such as the University of Kansas’ Kansan and Kansas State’s Collegian.
University colleges and departments are encouraged to weave the new theme into their individual advertisements placed through the Office of University Publications/Printing.
The first print publications to convey the new theme will be the undergraduate student recruitment viewbook and college brochures coordinated through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Also, Wichita State will literally be visible through a Metro-Cam project with KSN-TV 3. Once the Metro-Cam is installed on campus, WSU will be seen by 88 percent of the households in the KSN market area on five daily newscasts. The average viewer will see pictures from the WSU Metro-Cam more than 100 times during the year.
