BEING HEARD: Schools using radio ads in variety of ways

From elementary schools to colleges, local Catholic schools are turning to radio advertising to attract students.

The Office of Continuing Education at Siena College in Loudonville, for example, has used radio ads in the past to attract adult students.

"It does have an impact," said Suzanne Allegretti, director of the Office of Continuing Education. "I think it's effective."

Jingle

Through market research, her office learned that people in the Capital District didn't know that Siena offered a program for adults. The ad campaign is designed to reach people who might be considering returning to school part-time or in the evenings.

Siena has purchased radio ads that will reach 23- to 40-year-olds in a 50-mile radius from the campus. The ads are run during the school's peak registration period, six weeks before the semester begins.

While Ms. Allegretti is pleased with the radio campaign, she said it isn't the only form of advertising the office uses. "Marketing is most effective when it's diverse," she said.

Radio ads

"It's expensive, but in the long run it's worthwhile," Sister Patricia said.

During the time the ad was running, the school continued to register new students, but none of the families attributed their interest to the ad, she said, but the ad did generate a lot of talk in the community, which Sister Patricia thought was good.

"I'd absolutely do it again," she said of radio advertising.

Message to share

"It was very successful in that people were talking about it and responding," said Thomas Fitzgerald, assistant superintendent for administrative services for the Catholic School Office of the Albany Diocese, "but I don't know how many [students] are coming because of the ad."

That advertising effort was unique because schools pooled their resources to fund it. "Any type of ad is expensive," Dr. Fitzgerald said. "We looked at how to best spend limited resources for the best return."

Advertising is important, he noted, because "there are quite a few families that are unaware that Catholic schools are available. We have to do advertising and public relations."

Raising funds

Joe Morrell, a member of the class of '99, came up with the idea of radio ads inviting people to donate to help the victims, explained Doane Stuart headmaster Richard Enemark. Joe was able to secure donated radio air time and worked with a local bank at establishing an account to accept donations.

Dr. Enemark said that more than $5,000 was raised through this effort. He believes the ad was successful because the student speaking was authentic in his concern, and the collaboration between the local radio station and bank helped people know this effort could be trusted. All of the money raised went to help the people of Kosovo.

Being heard

While no funds were raised for the school and the ad didn't lead to additional students registering, he said, "it still did us great good. I believe doing good does us good."

The school has used radio in the past for its recruiting efforts. The response has been mixed, with some efforts more successful than others.

As the school is planning its advertising budget for the upcoming year, Dr. Enemark said, "Certainly radio ads are a strong possibility -- and we plan a strong print campaign as well."

(09-02-99) [[In-content Ad]]