UCLA conducts ad campaign during critical time

UCLA has launched an ad campaign over the past several weeks in major media aimed at cultivating strong support for the university at a crucial time.

With print ads running in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Business Journal and La Opinión and messages on three television network stations in the Los Angeles region, the University Communications team scheduled the campaign to reach a wide-ranging audience of community-minded adults at a time when admitted students were making their decisions on whether to enroll and when legislators in Sacramento are weighing in on how state budget cuts should be made. The campaign continues through Wednesday, May 14.

Admitted students and their families faced a May 1 deadline by which the decision on whether to attend UCLA had to be made. "As families made these important choices, we aimed to project the voices of leaders representing the diverse communities we serve," said External Affairs Vice Chancellor Rhea Turteltaub. "Our objective was to help ensure a successful yield, particularly of the most promising students, many of whom are sought after by other elite institutions."

The ad campaign was also set in motion to communicate the value of UCLA at a time when legislators in Sacramento are debating how to spread the pain of a very tight 2008-09 state budget.

To emphasize the significant impact UCLA has had on the quality of their lives, a series of print ads, called "UCLA, Unabashed," features such well-known California leaders as Regent Sherry Lansing, Assemblymember Warren Furutani, Congresswoman Diane Watson, business leader Richard Ziman, Nobel laureate and UCLA Professor Paul Boyer, among others.

"These various 'Unabashed' messages identified under-promoted assets the university possesses to our stakeholders in the community who are vital to our interest and support," said Assistant Vice Chancellor Lawrence Lokman, who managed the campaign.

It was also important, said Lokman, that most of the prominent voices featured in the ads came from outside the university, giving these messages about the unique benefits offered by UCLA greater credibility and validation from third parties.

The "UCLA, Unabashed" ads, with focused, detailed messages about the value of the university, are being placed in publications with strong readership among parents, legislators, local business people, corporate leaders and educators.

The "My Big UCLA Moment" television messages, which are being carried by the network affiliates of local television cable stations, are more visceral, to the point and exclusively focused on the notion of the UCLA student-athlete whose contributions transcend sport and who are, first and foremost, students who benefit from a strong, well-rounded academic program. Among the former student-athletes featured are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gary Beban, Dot Richardson, Anita Ortega, Cormac Carney and Jose Lopez. Public opinion research conducted by UCLA and UC shows that Californians recognize the academic excellence of the campuses, but they are less informed about the broader societal benefits the university brings to the state. The ads, for example, bring to light UCLA's role in creating a strong economy in the state, in creating new knowledge and innovation, as well as educating scholar citizens.

"Our research has shown that the messages we are sending raise awareness of UCLA's role as a vital public asset," Turteltaub said.

See the various elements of the UCLA campaign at UCLA, Unabashed and at My Big UCLA Moment.