It’s not just Rush Limbaugh anymore — Hillsdale College is branching out.
In an effort to develop its branding, Hillsdale is expanding its advertising from mailers, email, and radio advertisements. With help from Matt Melchior ’15, a corporate partnerships consultant for the Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, the college is advertising through the Toledo Walleye, an ECHL hockey team owned by the Mud Hens.
Additionally, Hillsdale is working on creating TV advertisements to highlight the college later this year.
“If there’s an ad in different areas, you can reinforce those ideas,” Director of Marketing Bill Gray said. “Reach is how wide you’re going; frequency is how deep you’re trying to drive the message.”
By expanding its reach, Hillsdale hopes to increase the frequency of its message to the public via radio, TV, social media, and other unique marketing means, Vice President for Marketing Matt Schlientz said.
At the Huntington Center, the Toledo Walleye stadium, Hillsdale markets itself on signs and in programs.
“It’s not uncommon to see colleges and universities advertising at sporting venues, but I don’t think Hillsdale has ever done advertising like this in the past,” Schlientz said.
Melchior said he worked with Schlientz to develop a package “mixed and matched” for Hillsdale’s interest. It includes two on-ice rink board signs, one of which spans in front of the home bench.
“It’s a cool spot because it’s where the action happens,” Melchior said.
Television broadcasts of the games are likely to show the logo, and photographs in the media have captured the Hillsdale sign in the background, Melchior added.
Hillsdale also has a full-page ad in the game programs, radio spots during broadcasts, and opportunities to pass out literature or set up a table at home games.
“Generally, we see our older demographic and the parents looking at those programs and reading them,” Melchior said.
Melchior reached out to Schlientz in August about advertising with the Mud Hens, a Triple-A baseball team.
“I think Hillsdale has done a fantastic job with what they’re doing with their social media,” Melchior said. “As Hillsdale continues to grow with online courses they’re offering, it seemed to make sense to try some things that weren’t so traditional.”
Schlientz said he was “intrigued.”
According to Scarborough Market Research, the Mud Hens are No. 1 for Minor League Baseball franchises in America and rank No. 11 among all sports in home market attendance, only behind Major League Baseball teams.
Additionally, the stadium has drawn 6.2 million fans with 395 sold-out games. Toledo, the largest city in Northwest Ohio, is approximately an hour-and-a-half car ride from Hillsdale.
The Walleye’s family-friendly environment is attractive to the college, Schlientz said. It draws parents, their children, and young retirees, who could become prospective students and donors for Hillsdale.
Just as Melchior and Schlientz were coming to an agreement, baseball season was coming to a close, so they decided to begin the partnership with the fall and winter hockey season. They have plans to meet again in March to discuss whether or not to advertise during the baseball season.
Hillsdale will definitely begin marketing the college on TV this year, Schlientz said.
“We need to create an awareness of the college in all areas,” Schlientz said. “If we want to reach these audiences, we have to go to where they are.”
Currently, marketing remains in the creative strategy stage for television advertising, but Schlientz said the department hopes to have a spot ready in April at the earliest with the help of outside companies to make and film it.
In March and April of 2015, Hillsdale had a national TV advertising campaign for its Constitution 101 online course.
“It was tremendously successful,” Schlientz said. “We had thousands of people, as a result of that TV spot, sign up for that course.”
Those who take the free courses also donate to the college, Schlientz noted.
Now, marketing is looking to broaden the message to inform viewers of the entire mission of the school in a national ad campaign, as well as focus on particular regions and TV networks.
Since the college relies on donations for its survival, administrators are welcoming the extension of advertising methods, Schlientz said.
“Hillsdale has always been very intentional about funding outreach efforts of the college and has to be because this funding goes to the college to replace the money that we would have gotten from the federal government,” Schlientz said. “Part of this is we have to supplement that money with generous support.”
Ultimately, the college’s outreach efforts relate to Hillsdale’s Articles of Association by spreading “sound learning” to secure “intelligent piety and liberty,” Gray said.
“We see it as that diffusion: The more people we can diffuse to, we think the better chance we can have to secure those blessings,” Gray said.
Schlientz said he and his team are open to suggestions from alumni and students about other ways to promote the college.
“All creative ideas are welcome,” Schlientz said. “It’s all the love students pour into this place that makes the difference.”