The University of Otago’s launches latest marketing campaign via Rainger & Rolfe

The University of Otago is starting to the benefits of a research-led marketing strategy via Rainger & Rolfe, with growth in 2020 enrolment applications and great continuity of momentum going into the year.

Says Todd Gordon, marketing director at the University of Otago: “It’s going really well. Our application numbers are ahead of last year and ahead of expectations.”

When pressed on why this might be, Gordon is quick to acknowledge that there are many factors that drive student recruitment and it has been a team effort right across the University. But acknowledges that the change in marketing strategy and approach has helped.

Says Gordon: “Whilst research has always played a major role here at the University, over the last year we’ve worked closely with Fiftyfive-Five and doubled-down on marketing insights to understand the motivations and drivers of undergraduate and postgraduate audiences. We’ve also made an extra effort to ensure the learnings connect to campaign messaging and with the addition of fresh creative agency thinking – thanks to Rainger and Rolfe – the communications is having a big impact on our results.”

“I should also point out we’ve evolved our channel strategy. This includes continuity with our strong digital and social presence, a faster more streamlined UX and we’ve looked to dial up some of our more traditional media channels – just to be absolutely sure the brand reaches the levels of awareness and visibility we need. This has also made a significant difference and for this we give huge thanks to Starcom.”

When asked to summarise the situation, Gordon says: “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we’ve got a lot of interesting projects in the pipeline offering real potential and when combined with our progress to date, it’s pretty exciting. The University of Otago is a fantastic place for students and we’re looking forward to some fun years ahead. Watch this space.”

University of Otago: Todd Gordon, Shelley Winsor, Vicki Roach, Karlo Feliciano, Cara Duffy, Lucy Bell, Beth Ryan, Jenna Anderson, Jo van der Linden, Fran Wright
Rainger and Rolfe: Ant Rainger, Chris Long, Simon McKechnie, Lauren Plumb.
Starcom: Al Jamieson, Tamara Robinson, Alex Araya.
Fiftyfive-Five: Richard Hall, Steph Karayannis.