School's Recruitment Campaign Promise: We'll Make You Famous

BI Norwegian Business School is embarking on an unusual recruitment campaign. The "Flying Start" initiative seeks international students by promising to make them famous. 

Developed by the Try Advertising Agency, the goal of the effort is to present the school's location in Oslo, Norway, as a city where international students will quickly feel at home, say agency executives. 

Throughout the campaign, one selected student will get his or her name and interests widely featured all over Olso, including on billboards, posters, magazine ads and TV commercials.

Even the school's soda machine in the cafeteria will feature the chosen student with cans branded in his or her name.  

Fellow students will also be rewarded with prizes if they learn how to pronounce the name of and recognize the student. In short, the campaign makes the chosen international student a city celebrity from day one,  say executives.   

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The concept is designed to help international students overcome various cross-cultural adjustment challenges and homesickness. The belief is they will feel at home with such a warm promotional embrace.  

BI Norwegian Business School often loses out to schools in other European cities, particularly London, Paris, Milan, and Berlin. "Many think of Oslo as a city situated in the far outskirts of Europe, and this makes attracting international students even more challenging," says Arne Wellberg, head of marketing, BI Norwegian Business School.

"In order to make Oslo known as a vital, colorful and exciting city for students, [the school] had to think differently, and boldly," he adds.

"With this campaign, we therefore also want to create awareness of our excellent, international rankings, the multitude of programs offered and the successful careers awaiting our students after having finished their degrees," says Wellberg.  

The school already attracts a wide diversity of attendees. There are currently more than 1,800 students enrolled from 106 different nations.

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