UNT launches campaign to promote enrollment

by Bryan Shettig of North Texas Daily

UNT is set to kick off a new advertising campaign that will span several media, including television, radio, print and billboards.

The campaign, which will cost about $675,000 from UNT advertising funds, is the largest of its kind that the university has put forward, said Rolando Rivas, director of integrated branding in university relations, communications and marketing.

"This is kind of a first for our advertising," Rivas said.

The majority of the campaign will start Sept. 8 and last a year. There will be television ads on WFAA Channel 8 during the morning, evening and nighttime news programs for about $89,000.

This is not the first time UNT has advertised on television, Rivas said. Previous ads played when regional channels and ESPN picked up Mean Green football games.

Radio stations running ads include KRLD 1080 AM news and talk radio, KTCK 1310 AM sports radio, WRR 101.1 FM classical radio, KERA 90.1 FM public radio and KLUV 98.7 FM.

The radio campaign will cost about $175,000, Rivas said.

In addition to the broadcast element, there will be more print ads in various publications, including the regional edition of the Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Business Journal, D Magazine, Texas Monthly magazine and the Chronicle of Higher Education and Student Paths.

Print ads began appearing for individual colleges at UNT over the past year, including ads in TIME magazine.

The print segment of the campaign costs $150,000.

Angela Helfrich, an account executive at the Chronicle of Higher Education, said UNT will have a highly visible presence for about a year in the publication.

"A lot of the ads will showcase professors and students," Helfrich said.

She said the ads focusing on professors would tie into the Campus Viewpoints feature on the Chronicle's Web site. The service lets universities show off their research and campuses and is "highly competitive" to be featured on, Helfrich said.

One of the first visible signs on the campaign is the 15 billboards advertising the university, 13 of which are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The other two are just north of Gainesville.

The billboard campaign cost about $116,408, Rivas said and features the tagline, "The Choice of 34,153 Students."

Rivas said the billboards would be updated after the fall semester's official enrollment figures are released after the 12th day of class on Sept. 8.

Some of the billboards, including the ones near Gainesville, are advertising a new Web site, discover.unt.edu, for students and families interested in enrolling at UNT.