Stratitude flies the education flag high at the 2021 New Generation Awards
JOBURG – The eight-week campaign comprised Google advertising, social media and direct marketing and was supported by radio and public relations.
Marketing agency, Stratitude, has been awarded bronze in the ‘Best Integrated Campaign by a Small Agency’ category at the Supersonic New Generation Awards 2021, which was hosted on September 23.
The award was for Nelson Mandela University’s 2021 pregraduate application campaign – the only education institution in this year’s New Generation Awards that made it onto the roll of finalists in four categories and the only one which was announced as an award winner.
“We are incredibly proud of our campaign and the results that it achieved for the university,’’ said Sylvia Zanetti, MD of Stratitude. “What makes us even more pleased, is the fact that while we were up against some serious competition, we entered the campaign in four categories and made it as finalists in each one of them.”
This year, the New Generation Awards received more than 400 entries from more than 80 corporates, agencies and individuals.
“We had to implement this campaign in a challenging year for education,” said Zanetti. “With the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown, there was an immediate negative impact on Nelson Mandela University’s pregraduate student recruitment practices. School closures and online learning limited face-to-face interactions, and the university could no longer rely on its traditional recruitment processes which were primarily focused on open days, campus tours, school visits and national career day exhibitions,” said Zanetti.
Stratitude was briefed to provide a solution that would enable the university to reach its 2021 pregraduate application targets by the closing date. The eight-week campaign comprised Google advertising, social media and direct marketing and was supported by radio and public relations.
“A digital campaign was the obvious solution to reach, connect and engage with matriculants and their influencers, and it paid off,” said Zanetti. The campaign significantly exceeded all expectations by achieving a phenomenal 72% increase in qualifying applications, compared to the previous year.
“We are thrilled with this recognition,” said Lebogang Hashatse, deputy vice-chancellor, People and Operations at Nelson Mandela University. “This award affirms the success that we are achieving with the university’s ‘digital first’ strategic direction, that is enabling us to reach new and wider audiences locally and abroad.”
“This win is proof that education, even in a tough year, can stand up and be recognised. It is also a celebration of our team’s collective ability and our relentless focus on helping our clients succeed,” said Zanetti.
Watch the campaign video.