• by Aaron Baar , October 29, 2010

When people consider the five U.S. service academies, they generally know the top three -- The U.S. Military Academy (a/k/a West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy -- and they may know the fourth (the Merchant Marine Academy), but many might be hard-pressed to know the fifth: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

"Most people have no idea who they are," Jose Villa, president of Sensis, the agency behind a $3 million brand awareness campaign for the academy, tells Marketing Daily. While the Coast Guard itself has increased awareness with humanitarian efforts, such as the response to Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the Coast Guard Academy has gone largely unrecognized. "They're the only one that feeds directly into [the Department of] Homeland Security, and they're the only one that doesn't require a Congressional recommendation."

The effort launched this month with an ad in Newsweek magazine that showed shots of students scaling masts, playing football and rowing crew, along with shots of Coast Guard helicopter crews performing rescues. "What others read in textbooks, you'll experience in real life," reads the headline.

Body copy stresses a curriculum heavy in math, technology and science, real-life experience (such as securing national waterways, improving the environment and saving lives on open water) and a "program that challenges [cadets] mentally, physically and emotionally."

"One of their core audiences is the scholar athlete. We're really hitting into the insights of the athletic opportunities," Villa says. "We're also really hitting on the positive of the 'guardian' aspect."

Sensis won the account earlier this year, in part due to its ability to target and reach minority recruits, Villa says. Upcoming ads in the campaign will stress diversity and the opportunities at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he says.

Located in New London, Conn., the U.S. Coast Guard Academy offers four-year bachelor of science degree programs. Upon graduation, cadets become commissioned officers in the U.S. Coast Guard -- the only way one can become such, Villa says. "Serving in the Coast Guard is unique because of that," he says.

In addition to the print ad, the campaign will include a heavy online component (targeting high-school students considering college), as well as some outdoor and perhaps television, Villa says. "We're really focused on increasing awareness and emerging media opportunities," he says.