See the World Through Rose-tinted Glasses with Miami Ad School
This is a speculative project I worked on independently while I was a student at the Miami Ad School in Toronto. If this project was implemented in real life, I would also consider other challenges such as ageism and how Miami Ad School could tackle that challenge and champion inclusion.
Summary
How can Miami Ad School encourage mid-career people ages 40-55 to enrol in a program and make changes at that stage in their life ?
Key Insight:
Seeing the world in an overly optimistic way is not always a bad thing. Those who expect the best outcome out of a situation are more likely to take risks and work towards it, increasing their opportunity to reach it.
Solution:
Provide a safety net for those that dare to see the world through rose-tinted glasses. Encourage older professionals to take more risks by showcasing more senior professionals with success stories about changing careers. Show the target group that they are not alone and that Miami Ad School will walk them through the difficult process of change.
Ask: Increase enrolment of a high potential but tough to convert audience (mid-career people ages 40-55).
Objectives:
Enrol 10% more people of that target group.
Gain coverage by at least 10 major media outlets and 20 local outlets.
Challenge:
There are quite a few barriers that older professionals face when wanting to make a career change; a primary one is that, as we grow older, we experience more disappointments and become more realistic and, as a result, are less likely to take big risks.
In-Depth Read
Background
Miami Ad School founded in 1993 in Miami, Florida is the heart of advertising, marketing, and professional creativity. Currently with campuses all over the world it offers several programs designed to prepare students through offline and online courses to enter the world of advertising. Most programs have switched from in person to digital after the pandemic.
How can Miami Ad School encourage mid-career people ages 40-55 to enrol in a program and make changes at that stage in their life?
The Challenge
Unconventional schools like Miami Ad School don’t just target young high school graduates but anyone that wishes to learn a new skill, develop themselves further or change careers completely. The problem is not with recruiting young students that are about to start their careers but those that want to make a change in their careers.
There are quite a few barriers to a later career change. A primary one is that as we grow older, we experience more disappointments and become more realistic and, as a result, are less likely to take risks.
The Research
“(…) the hardest part is emotional (…) taking this leap meant that I needed to deconstruct my sense of identity and figure out who I was and what I wanted.”
The most interesting research revolved mainly around the target group and understanding how they feel about career change.
Mid-career people: Ages 40-55
Mindset:
Factors driving mid-career people to quit their jobs
42% felt their work was unfulfilling and 52% desired a better company culture.
Barriers standing between mid-career people and changing their careers
They don’t know where to start and feel a bit misunderstood. “I find it discouraging to learn a new skill at this age.”
They are afraid of ageism.
They are worried they might loose their identity.
“(…) the hardest part is emotional (…) taking this leap meant that I needed to deconstruct my sense of identity and figure out who I was and what I wanted.”
They have more experiences (positive and negative), including disappointments and are therefore less likely to take risks.
Seeing the world in an overly optimistic way is not always bad. Those that expect the best outcome out of a situation are more likely to take risks and work towards it and, as a result, increase their opportunity to reach it.
A large part of our target group is looking for support and is afraid they won’t fit in a new educational program or career.
The Insight
The Strategy
Provide a safety net for those that dare to see the world through rose-tinted glasses.
Encourage older professionals to take more risks by showcasing seasoned professionals with success stories about changing careers. Show the target group that they are not alone and that Miami Ad School will walk them through the difficult process of change.
The Creative Idea
See the world through rose tinted glasses.
Bring Miami Ad School’s DNA and rose colour code to the forefront by showing that it is a school for those that dare to see the world in a different light.
The campaign doesn’t want to encourage mid-career professionals to ignore the challenges that come with career change but to show them that they are allowed to be a bit overly optimistic because Miami Ad School will be there to support them and provide them with a community of like-minded professionals.
The billboard is one part of the campaign. Another big part would be to collaborate with older professionals who have successfully made the change in life and ask them to share their stories and mentor new students of that target group.
Tactics
According to research on social media our target group is primarily on LinkedIn and Facebook. The campaign will be launched mainly through those two channels as well as on TV, print and OHH. The social media campaign will focus on introducing the mentors (older professionals that have successfully switched to the creative industry later in life) as part of this campaign.
How I would measure the success:
Enrolment: Calculate the rate of new enrolments of that target group.
Media Coverage: By the quality and quantity of the coverage and channels.
Social Media Outreach: Impressions, quality of engagement, conversion.