Darleks sneek in as UWA turns 100 (part 1)

If you’ve been around for 100 years you deserve a bit of a fuss don’t you? Well the University of WA (UWA) certainly got that last night, even the Doctor Who Darleks came to pay their respects. I’ve never seen so many people on the Nedlands campus at night. Aside from being a terrific night, it also left me pondering about three well known marketing strategies.

Spread across 14 venues the centrepiece was the Luminoushall lightshow on Winthrop Hall. To help with crowd control, anyone wanting to watch the show had to pick up a free ticket beforehand. The shows were on at 8.40, 9.20, 10.40 and 11.20pm. By 8pm the earlier shows were already full, with only the 11.20 show remaining.

In terms of marketing the night was a great example of three strategies:

Entice unlikely customers

Like all Uni Open Days, people who may not normally step onto a uni campus, got to see what all the fuss was about and perhaps realise it’s not such a scary place after all.

Create a human face

The lightshow images covered the time from settlement right up until present day, including a nod to Prosh (and the Darleks). A far quicker way to educate people about the uni’s heritage than to ask them to read about it.

Prosh with Darlek © The Ponder Room

Identify your advocates

Alumni students who registered were invited to a cocktail party. Consequently the university now has an up to date list of past graduates who are favourably predisposed to the school, prime candidates for advocacy marketing.

As I drove away, close to midnight, there were people standing knee deep on the inner ring roads of the campus trying to get a glimpse of the lightshow. Driving a little further away it was clear that people had simply run their cars onto the nearest grass strip and walked over to take a look. I bet the university is hoping this level of interest is repeated on enrolment day.

University of WA http://www.uwa.edu.au/