Alex Yates
Creative Director
Manh Nguyen
Videographer
Background
The New Jersey Institute of Technology is the state’s leading polytechnic university and a leader in STEM education, research and economic development. Part of NJIT’s mission includes enrolling a diverse student population, including students from overseas. The university hired Fourdozen to improve its recruitment position in Vietnam.
Our Big Idea
Ads for educational institutions follow a pattern: staid, trustworthy and serious. To appeal to the Vietnamese Gen-Z demographic, we broke from tradition and highlighted the university’s unique eSports program. eSports is a massive market, particularly in Asia, that is growing each year. It’s fun. It’s young. And gaming is definitely not something students think about when they think of school.
We linked eSports to NJIT’s engineering school through a series of instream ads on Facebook and Instagram aimed at engaging young people in Vietnam. The message was simple: time spent playing video games isn’t the waste of time you’ve been told it is, but can be preparation for your career. Mom and dad just don’t get it, yet.
In addition to the eSports spot, we also created spots aimed at encouraging young women to pursue a future in technology and computer science. Globally there are still strong cultural norms that discourage women from pursuing these career paths, including in Vietnam. Our campaign took a proactive approach, highlighting the importance of breaking barriers, normalizing women in tech, and promoting female entrepreneurship.
Results
These spots ran online during the key recruitment seasons (fall and spring) generating thousands of inquiries for the top of NJIT’s funnel. A consistent user journey from ad, to landing page, to lead form minimized friction and ensured a low cost-per-conversion.
Reaching male students through digital advertising in Vietnam is traditionally much more challenging than reaching their female counterparts. Young Vietnamese men participate in community discussions about study abroad at a much lower rate than their female peers, and are less likely to respond to digital advertising. But the eSports ad resonated strongly with this community, and engagement from young men on ad creatives drove earned organic reach and significantly reduced the cost of the ad delivery.