Drexel’s brand campaign in print expands on the web
Drexel’s current brand campaign theme… “Ambition Can’t Wait”… started in late 2016. Let’s give the university great credit for staying with a campaign that was first announced in a press release you can read here. That’s admirable patience and persistence not seen at every college and university.
For some time now Drexel has been running full page ads in the magazine section of the Sunday New York Times. These are full page ads designed for brand impact rather than lead generation. There’s no call to action to visit an online inquiry form or anywhere else on the Drexel website.
What, we wondered, would people captured by the “Ambition Can’t Wait” theme find if they did visit the website?
- Type in the name of the university on a search bar and land on the home page and you won’t see an immediate connection to the brand theme.
- Folks who stay on the home page long enough to scroll down through a long content array eventually arrive at a “Because Ambition Can’t Wait” heading and a link to an “Ambition Can’t Wait Website.”
- If you search for “Drexel University Ambition Can’t Wait” after reading the text, that will take you direct to the Link of the Week page below… the “Ambition Can’t Wait Website” after the home page link. Scroll down that page and you’ll find much content (including the image you see in the ad) building on and expanding the “Ambition Can’t Wait” brand message.
Get to the end of the page to find a prompt to “Explore our programs” with links to Undergraduate, Graduate, and Cooperative Education content. As you can see here, the undergrad page uses the brand theme to urge potential students to “Turn Your Ambition Into Achievement.” Headings on the other two pages don’t include the “ambition” word.
A suggestion…
Why not include a link in the print ad to take readers direct to the “Ambition Can’t Wait” page?
Might that not be a better starting place than the home page for people motivated by the print message to reinforce their initial motivation?
Follow the Link of the Week…
See how the Drexel University website expands on the print advertising brand theme when you visit “Ambition Can’t Wait.”
Speed on mobile… 7.9 seconds to first view, 23.4 seconds to full interactivity
Google PageSpeed Insights measures the time to first view of the “Ambition Can’t Wait” page on a mobile phone at slow 7.9 seconds. Time to full interactivity takes a long 23.4 seconds.
The first step to improving mobile speed is seldom seen: “Serve images in next-gen formats.” That’s followed by “Reduce Unused JavaScript.”
Website Carbon Calculator… dirtier than most others
Thanks to Gerry McGovern and his efforts to reduce “world wide waste” for the referral.
The Drexel University “Ambition Can’t Wait” page is “dirtier than 88% of web pages tested.”
Does your website help or hurt the climate? Test your website pages at “Website Carbon Calculator.”
Recommend a future Link of the Week
Always eager to get recommendations of websites that dare to be different… or just do something ordinary in a special way. Write a comment with link here or send me the link at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com.