Charles Darwin University launches first campaign from The Royals with brand platform ‘You Make CDU’
Charles Darwin University (CDU) is appealing to new students with a new brand platform ‘You Make CDU’, and a campaign which praises students who earned their degrees via different pathways.
The Royals won CDU’s account earlier this year, consisting of a three-year contract covering strategy, brand and design.
The campaign stars recent graduates Yron, Beth, Talea and May, receiving messages from their loved ones stating how proud they are of them. Talea studied midwifery at the university remotely whilst raising her three children. Beth transitioned from CDU’s free tertiary enabling program to a bachelor degree and career in law, after not finishing high school.
According to The Royals, the TVCs were unscripted.
The new brand platform ‘You Make CDU’ communicates that the people at the university make it what it is, and thus it strives to give people the best opportunity to study there with its “supportive and flexible learning environment”.
Shannon Holborn, director of marketing at CDU, said: “At CDU, we pride ourselves on being a modern and progressive university, and we know we are different from universities that primarily attract school leavers. Our higher education students are more mature and are often juggling work and family responsibilities. So it was important to change the approach by telling students we need you, rather than telling them all the reasons why they need us. We need your diverse backgrounds, life experiences, creative minds, curiosity and community mindedness, to help us build a new world. The resulting campaign from The Royals has exceeded our expectations, and perfectly showcases CDU as a university that empowers and supports all kinds of people by offering them an inclusive and flexible learning environment.”
Charles Darwin University’s OOH campaign
The Royals creative partner, Nick Cummins, added: “Charles Darwin University is an extraordinary institution, one that embraces change rather than adhering to the conventions of its category. Our aim through every aspect of this campaign was to communicate the warmth, inclusivity and progressive points of view of CDU – and director Dylan Harrison and his team did a beautiful job in helping us achieve that.”
The campaign will appear across TV, cinema, digital video, OOH, radio, press and social.
Credits
Client: Charles Darwin University
Director of Marketing: Shannon Holborn
Marketing Manager: Renee Gries
Agency: The Royals
Managing Partner: Dan Beaumont
Creative Partner: Nick Cummins
Head of Strategy: Michaela Futcher
Group Account Director: Priyanka Patel
Senior Account Manager: Etaoin Knight
Copywriter: Lee Spencer-Michaelsen
Art Director: Ruby Boardman-Boynton
Senior Design: Terry Chisholm
Finished Artist: Kitty Turpin
Producer: Alex Gillespie
Digital Project Manager: Emerald Cowell
Digital Designer: Kenneth Sum
Full Stack Developer: James Robinson
UX Designer: Maxime Lacoste
Production Company: Hooligan Collective
Director: Dylan Harrison
Producer: Ash McLeod
DOP: Jason White
Editor: Mark Parry
Post Production: Vandal
Colourist: Daniel Pardy
Sound Designer: Nigel Crowley
Photographer: Rhett Hammerton
Great storytelling—really well shot. Great work Royals.
User ID not verified.
Well done Royals and CDU.
User ID not verified.