D+ = FAIL

Posted by on Sep 8, 2010 in Marketing Industry | 2 comments

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A new marketing campaign launched by a private college in Iowa in an attempt to increase student enrollment has a lot of people talking, and not in a good way. I’m not one to rip a campaign apart, but in this instance, as an alumnus of this prestigious institution I feel I have the right.

Drake University in Des Moines recently launched the “Drake Advantage,” a campaign designed to recruit students to campus by focusing on what Drake can provide beyond a quality education. The catch in the campaign – the logo. The marketing firm hired by the university chose to focus on the word “addition” and incorporated that into Drake’s current logo – a giant D. The result: D+.

Now, I don’t know about my fellow alumni but as a proud graduate, I’m upset and embarrassed by this campaign. So upset, I’m writing about my disapproval on a blog that is read by millions of people every day.

After reading the rationale behind the logo, I get it. The university wants to let prospective students know they can provide them with opportunities in addition to education. But when you see “D+” it conveys something completely different. Am I wrong? What do you think Peepshow readers?

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  • http://www.mikebilleter.com Mike Billeter

    My wife and I have been making fun of this campaign since last week. I read that, at some point, Drake’s representatives tried to explain how the ideal Drake student “gets” the joke of it (which I don’t particularly believe as it just seems like a desperate attempt to defend the campaign), so whenever a joke from one of us goes over the other’s head, we just respond that we clearly aren’t Drake material or declare the joke a D+.

    I would imagine this entire campaign suffered from a raging case of Groupthink. I find it hard to believe that, had they brought in any number of outside opinions, those outside minds wouldn’t have immediately found the misstep in a D+ as their main logo effort.

    Then again, maybe this is all part of an intricate viral campaign. If it isn’t, I would suggest Drake University officials figure out a way to make it into one sooner than later.

  • John from Minneapolis

    The only phrase that applies: What advertising genius came up with this campaign?