CHALLENGE:

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in demand for online learning. This prompted traditional universities to boost marketing efforts for their online programs, which increased the competitive landscape and reduced market share overall. As life returned to normal, interest in online education decreased. The pandemic altered the category completely and presented a business opportunity for National University. To compete in an evolving landscape, National University developed a new messaging and brand identity system. BARÚ was engaged to re-launch and establish NU as a premium contender by expanding beyond their regional footprint in California and beyond.

 

STRATEGIC THINKING & SOLUTION:

BARÚ’s strategic thinking took a holistic approach to evaluating market opportunity in order maximize presence and stand above the competition. We assessed primary research and profile data to develop consumer Personas and detailed  consumer journey maps. We identified how students move at individual paces through their own journey, consuming content differently as they advance. And ultimately engaging differently with media at upper-, mid- and lower-funnel levels. BARÚ developed an omnichannel 360 strategic media total-market campaign. Overall, our cross-channel campaign delivered over $5.3M in added value exposure. Our funnel-based approach facilitated a market solution that balanced brand and performance marketing, moving prospects through their own unique journeys. We did this by overlaying our custom data sets and research with media programming, reach, ratings and custom affinity indices. Our ongoing data measurement plan includes tools such as TVSquared, EDO and Kantar as well as 1st and  3rd party, and site analytics (Google Analytics) for digital performance and optimizations.

 

RESULTS & YEAR OF COMPLETION:

BARÚ’s assignment ends July 2023, although NU will continue activating the campaign with the foundations set. While the campaign has only been live for 12-months, it has reversed declining enrollments and lead generation trends with YoY gains, reaching up to +30%. The Kantar Brand Lift Insights and Cross Media study reported strong results: 10%-12% lifts across
Awareness, Favorability, Consideration Intent & Recommendation metrics.