• by Larissa Faw , December 5, 2016

While its reputation took a bruising after revelations surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal a few years back, Penn State University has a long-standing tradition of being an excellent academic institution in addition to having an elite athletic program. 

But research has shown that the biggest concerns of a modern-day college-hopeful have shifted from what the University has to offer, to what their future looks like at the university and their future careers. 

Now the Big Ten school and Decoded Advertising are avoiding typical college marketing clichés that promote athletics or Nobel laureates to introduce a humorous and modern campaign that features students walking and talking to the camera in one-take shots. Working with Ben Berman, director of IFC’s "Comedy Bang Bang," and More Media, the creative introduces 40 students from a variety of majors and disciplines that cheekily discuss how they’re pandered to, but then proclaim that admission at Penn State is the beginning of something much bigger.  

The campaign includes broadcast and cable TV spots targeted to prospective students and parents, digital buys that include search, 30- and 15-second pre-roll video, and display banners, as well as social media outreach with Facebook and Instagram, static posts and 15-second video.  

The videos were built with specific edited end-points so they could be modular and addressed to distinct demographics, says the agency. "We could have a front and back together, or just the middle, or just the front, and the spots still worked."  

This campaign was driven by the student body, says Decoded. The subject matter changed a bit based on information the agency got from prospective students. "We wanted to make sure what we were saying resonated with their real-life concerns when looking for a college," says David Weinstock, chief creative officer, Decoded Advertising. 

Furthermore "the cast was made up entirely of students, and on the production side there were students working as PAs, art department, wardrobe and other roles up and down the line." 

Still, it was slightly challenging to work with real students due to their time constraints, says Weinstock. "These were all current students with incredibly busy schedules, and since academics at Penn State comes first, we needed to take that into consideration when developing the schedule, shoot and call times." 

Penn State's advertising budget was $16.65 million during the first six months of 2016 versus $13.52 million year-over-year. For the full 12 months, the school spent $23.44 million on advertising, according to Kantar Media.  

Decoded first started working with Penn State in early 2016 to develop a new brand campaign, strategy/messaging framework and an enrollment campaign for Fall 2016 and Spring 2017. Decoded founder Matt Rednor started the agency in 2015 after serving as chief strategy and innovation officer at digital agency MRY.