Kaplan Univ. Gets Real With New Campaign

Kaplan University (KU) and its agency Arnold Worldwide are introducing "Education Working," a campaign that incorporate hidden camera footage to record real graduates reacting to real-life scenarios.

The creative first debuts via teaser videos that feature KU nursing graduates as they casually discuss their education backgrounds. Then, they witness a cyclist being hit a car before they immediately run to the rescue. The spot ends as a cliffhanger, leaving the viewer to ask whether the nurse will perform or not? Are they ready to make a real difference in the real world?

Next, longer-form videos showcase how these graduates provide assistance as they check the cyclist’s injuries until EMTs arrive. The interviewer then reveals she and the cyclist are actually actors and the real nurses have just passed their “test” with flying colors.

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A similar strategy uses short- and long-form videos to demonstrate the abilities of three different IT professionals responding to a sudden IT crisis.
Their reactions to each of the scenarios were entirely real, as are the EMTs in the Nursing spot. Only the cyclist/interviewers/company employees were actors.

This concept is designed to differentiate KU from its competitors that typically focus on how students are prepared for their futures using scripted moments. By incorporating real footage, KU reinforces its brand position that "This is education working," says David Register, EVP, executive creative director, Arnold Worldwide, adding that this is the school's first initiative designed to speak to the abilities of its graduates and their impact in the real world. "For this reason, we opted to use a brand activation idea over a brand anthem commercial to really bring the story to life."

This "Education Working” campaign is the first work created by the Arnold and KU partnership. Previous ad campaigns developed over the past few years included "Talent" to spotlight how many of today’s college students, especially adult learners, are not well served by traditional classrooms. The "Finish What You Started" campaign encouraged adults to return to school to finish their degrees, and "Spark" introduced young kids talking about what they want to be when they grow up to show how America will need at least four million college graduates with the same 'spark' as these kids by 2020.

1 comment about "Kaplan Univ. Gets Real With New Campaign".
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  1. Kevin Horne from Verizon, April 27, 2017 at 2:24 a.m.

    Bold stuff considering it's a mostly online paper and debt mill where 2/3 of students withdraw, and has been fined by the US govt for not really "working" as promised...

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