A Communication Program for Oakland Community
College
The Assignment.
In 2010, OCC faced an approaching millage election. If defeated, it would mean huge cuts in the school’s funding; cutting programs, cutting maintenance & construction projects, cutting staff & teachers, and actually turning away students. In the midst of Michigan’s worst recession in 40 years and unemployment approaching 20%, no one was in the mood to vote for a tax increase. What could Juice do to help?
We studied existing research that showed outside of cities with campuses, brand awareness was quite low. It also showed there was a lot of confusion between OCC and Oakland University. OCC’s advertising was piecemeal. Their print ads were produced internally, TV stations created commercials, and radio stations produced radio spots. there was no continuity in look, tone, or message. Juice would fix that.
The Strategy.
- Produce a “30 TV commercial to run heavily before the millage election.
- Create a digital campaign that included banner ads on the employment pages of Detnews.com, Freep.com, Comcast.com, and WXYZ.com.
- Create a social media site for students and alumni.
- Design 3 billboards to be strategically placed in Oakland County.
- Produce TV and print ads to fulfill prearranged media commitments.
The Results.
The OCC Millage Renewal passed by a comfortable margin. 62% of the electorate voted in favor of the tax increase, despite Michigan’s economic conditions.
* Recently the TV Commercial won a gold award at the NCMPR Awards competition. (National Council for Marketing & Public Relations)
TV Commercial
Billboards
Below is an open letter that OCC sent to Oakland County voters:
Millage Renewal Passes!
After months of nervous anticipation the college community gave a collective sigh of relief as results came in from the August 3 millage renewal election.
Unofficial final tallies show that the proposal passed by a comfortable margin - 62.33 percent of the electorate voted in favor, while 37.67 percent voted against. All told, 212,985 voters cast votes in the OCC contest.
"We are very appreciative of the trust and confidence of the voters of Oakland County," said Chancellor Tim Meyer during a live web stream on election night from the offices of the Oakland Press. Dr. Meyer had been invited by Oakland Press Editorial Page Editor Allan Adler to offer his comments along with such other notables as Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, State Representatives Tim Melton and Chuck Moss, and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
The chart at the right is the final unofficial vote count as reported by the Oakland County Clerk’s Office.
Thanks, voters, for your support!