BY TIM ALLSTON, director, public relations, Oakwood University
If they timed their Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Christmas/New
Year's Eve activities in New York City's Times Square precisely, an estimated
986,000 daily visitors will see 10 seconds each hour of Oakwood University's
new marketing awareness campaign flash up on the marquee beneath the famed
CBS-TV "Eye."
Begun on November 6 and running until January 4, 2014, OU can
change its Times Square marquee messages every two weeks.
"Neutron Media, a full-service marketing firm that
operates such high-profile outdoor multimedia venues as the Times Square
marquee beneath the CBS Eye, had a cancellation and approached us here at
Oakwood University, primarily due to our social media victory with The Home
Depot 'Retool your School' campaign," explained Denica King, OU assistant
marketing director.
At the same time, Oakwood University has been working to
expand its awareness to its non-traditional audiences, King said, adding, "So,
for Oakwood and Neutron Media, this created a win-win situation."
Within its hourly 10 seconds of advertising - totaling four
minutes each 24-hour day - OU shares with Time Square viewers its recent endorsements,
such as:
In the inaugural two-week ad cycle, OU included the
testimonial:
"A Life-changing Experience" Rear Admiral Barry
Black (ret.) (class of '70) referencing the U.S. Senate's first-ever
Seventh-day Adventist and African American chaplain, who gained international
attention for his searing and provocative invocations that opened each Senate
session, during its 16-day federal government shutdown in October.
Noting that this Times Square marquee likely
marks a first-time appearance for either a Seventh-day Adventist, a historically
Black college or university, or a Huntsville institution to have been so
prominently displayed in this venue, King concluded, "Oakwood will
continue to explore opportunities to promote its brand."
