This is the correct way to open the recruitment advertisement

Recently, college entrance examination results have been announced one after another, and the score lines of various provinces have also been released one after another. Starting from August, all places will enter the admission stage.

With the arrival of the enrollment season, major universities are gearing up to launch a beautiful publicity campaign in the upcoming "war for talent."

Just now, a recruitment poster that seemed to be "X metaphor, skirting the line" quickly caused heated discussions on the Internet, and also sent Xi'an Sports University to the hot search:

The red and green color blocks are unbearable to look at

Although Xi'an Institute of Physical Education subsequently issued an apology statement, the original intention was to ease the pressure of applying for the exam in a way that young people would like, but it was misinterpreted due to the colloquialism of some words, but this did not prevent people from watching online.

At the same time, a magical folk recruitment advertisement made by students from Sichuan University also spread across Weibo.

It is reported that the film was first released on Bilibili. In the film of less than 3 minutes, there are no cool pictures and no sophisticated packaging, but it is full of old jokes such as "free shipping to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai" and "20 kilometers away from the subway". The humorous banter, the clear and articulate explanations, and the 1990s TV shopping style gave us a full-scale picture of the group life at Sichuan University. It successfully made netizens laugh with its strong earthy flavor and straightforward introduction, and it can be called an enrollment mudslide in colleges and universities.

Later, the official Weibo account of Sichuan University also reposted the "recruitment video" and said: It's unofficial, but netizens are very loving! 599 (points) is really not good enough, just report 699 (points)!

Coincidentally, looking back at last year, Shanghai Jiao Tong University stood out from a crowd of recruitment advertisements with a "Lanxiang Style" recruitment advertisement made by its students.

MIT East

Only 20 km from the nearest metro station

The same earthy style, the same student-made painting, and the same official response:

Although these two videos were not officially released, with the popularity of the short video trend, the earthy and silly style has already blown into college recruitment advertisements and become a new "trend." Make people believe that "maybe, being extremely tacky is trendy"?

Since last year, tacky recruitment posters have become rampant. Various "great writers" have "added bricks and tiles" to promote (self-deprecating) their alma mater, using various "alternative" writing styles to attract students:

Jinjiang.com style

Coconut Tree Coconut Juice

Psoriasis advertising style

The twists and turns of the plot, the mysterious layout...are you sure it's an enrollment advertisement and not a dissuasion advertisement?

As we all know, recruitment advertisements are one of the most direct ways for schools to attract more high-quality students who are suitable for their own schools. Different schools have different publicity purposes and methods of expression, and the most basic one is to meet the demands of candidates and parents, and to show the characteristics of the school to students. But when the enrollment market uniformly labels "silly sculptures" as "retro", calling them down-to-earth but actually eye-catching, quantitative changes will eventually bring about qualitative changes. Can't recruitment advertisements, which are supposed to guide values ​​and motivate students to be positive and ambitious, be a little more "normal"?

To this end, this article has selected some representative domestic and overseas recruitment advertisements and graduation season advertisements as cases, and tried to summarize for everyone: In addition to the earthy route, how else can recruitment advertisements be shot? From what angles can we approach it?

Domestic recruitment advertisement

1. Open “question-based” questioning, focusing on inward exploration

It is reported that Tsinghua University, one of the higher education institutions in China, has 3,400 undergraduate students enrolled every year. I believe many people are curious about what kind of education students will receive after entering Tsinghua University? To this end, Tsinghua University Admissions Office invited 34 graduates to jointly write graduation questionnaires on the eve of graduation, perhaps they could find the answer from them.

2018 Tsinghua University Admissions Promotional Video "Graduation Answer Sheet"

How to guide others to transform from being driven by others to being driven by themselves has always been a difficult proposition to overcome in the educational process. This recruitment video focuses on self-worth through two rounds of questions (6+7 questions), asking questions from multiple angles such as vision, choice, and collaboration, guiding students to think about "how to write a satisfactory answer for their own life." What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to live? What do you want to leave for the world? Every time you ask this question, it hits your heart. These questions allow us to see ourselves clearly, and this short film also makes us realize the value of education.

I’ve seen too many words like “work hard, keep going”, but in the end everyone has to face the reality. Throughout our lives, we cannot escape asking ourselves questions.

2. Dramatic conflict, stories connect ideals and values

Robert McKee once said in "Story": Conflict subverts life. But I would say that conflicts also come from life. There are some advertisements that start from life and provide us with a "changed" experience. In it, we resonate emotionally with the characters in the play and see another "me" experiencing the ups and downs of life.

Peking University once launched a micro-film to commemorate the graduation season - "Starry Sky Diary", which was completed jointly by Peking University students and alumni. Different from the recruitment videos whose main theme is to spread the university spirit, this video tells the story of a boy who loves astronomy but chooses to study economics due to his difficult family background and struggles when dreams and reality collide violently, and finally chooses to pursue his dreams. Through this film, we can see the "Peking University spirit" and the values ​​it demonstrates.

If dreams were a piece of clothing, astronomy would be the brand I couldn't afford.

Also this year, Nanjing University launched a video, using three stories as examples to illustrate the gap between reality and ideals, encouraging students to bravely pursue their dreams: There was a drought in the northwest and all the crops died, so the mother encouraged her daughter to leave the village and stay in the city. But my daughter wanted to go back to the village to control the drought and help the village get out of the trouble of meteorological disasters.

In 2020, heavy rains and floods hit the area, destroying crops and houses. The boy faces the dilemma of reorganizing his family. His stepmother and father, who are busy playing mahjong, urge him to earn money to support the family as soon as possible, but his dream is to continue studying atmospheric science and avoid disasters.

2020 Nanjing University Admissions Microfilm

"Go South 2: A Flying Dream"

When the romantic sky meets reality, will it be defeated?

A good story never avoids the negative side of life, but takes the student group that can be found everywhere as the protagonist, allowing us to follow the students to feel the confusion about youth, dreams, and the future, and inspire empathy.

As one of the top universities in China for its meteorology major, Nanjing University uses realistic stories to let us see the hardships of its students in overcoming the difficulties of their original families and pursuing their dreams. At the same time, it subtly demonstrates its strong professional advantages and helps students to develop a sense of caring for their country and the world. Perhaps, young people who have experienced the "beatings" of life understand better how difficult it is to pursue their dreams.

In addition to domestic recruitment advertisements, overseas advertisements also demonstrate creative power with strong local characteristics.

Overseas recruitment advertisement

3. Think in reverse and use challenge as the theme to attract attention

Usually, domestic recruitment promotional videos cannot escape the addition of positive energy such as history, faculty, and dreams. However, Japanese advertising, which is famous for its horror movies, disagrees and extends its "horror" characteristics to the recruitment posters.

Department of International Studies, Kinki University, Japan:
Alternative recruitment poster

Do you still want to doze off when there are less than 15 people in each class?

Although some people think that the tuition is too expensive, it is worth it considering the future prospects.

All students go abroad for training

If you want to live a glamorous college life, go to another department.

So scary? I really want to try it.

As the largest and most famous private university in western Japan, Kinki University is renowned for its strong majors in medicine, pharmacy, and agriculture (as well as the fisheries discipline under the Faculty of Agriculture), and attaches great importance to students' personal qualities and social skills. In 2015, Dentsu created a series of recruitment posters for its newly-opened International Studies Department. Several professors at Kinki University used the severity of their attendance in class and the horror of failing a course to tell you the "rules of survival" of Kinki University. The red letters cover up the professors’ ferocious expressions, creating a bold and distinctive visual experience. The horror can be felt through the screen, so it’s no wonder that people vividly call it: “The most terrifying recruitment advertisement in history.”

But in fact, in an environment that is becoming more severe year by year, the employment reality in Japan is even more harsh. Implicit behind the seemingly "abnormal" poster is an attitude of seeking innovation and change in line with the times. It is also for this reason that Kinki University has seen an explosive growth in the number of applicants in recent years.

4. Unique sense of youth, healing positive energy

In addition, Japan, which occupies half of the world's animation market, also demonstrated its extremely dreamy animation realism style in the college entrance examination promotional video: showing all things in the world in fantasy.

Makoto Shinkai directs cram school commercial "CrossRoad"

In the short film "CrossRoad" directed by Makoto Shinkai, who is known as the "new-generation Hayao Miyazaki", the story is told between two high school students who are determined to apply to universities in the Tokyo area. Although it was an advertisement for a cram school, the short film also made detailed depictions of the sky, flying birds, railroad tracks, cherry blossoms and other things, injecting a breath of life into the stressful life of senior high school students. Rather than viewing it as a hazy youth romance film, it is better to see it as a story of companionship in growing up together. The screen is overflowing with adolescent boys' longing for the future. It not only meets the growth demands of young people, but also caters to the indelible innocence and dreams in the hearts of adults, as well as their beautiful yearning for the future. It presents characteristics for all ages and is full of healing atmosphere.

It is reported that Makoto Shinkai himself saw the possibility of extending the story into a long work in this short 2-minute animation (during the creative process), and wrote "Your Name" based on this.

5. Technological innovation connects individuals with the world

April 2014 Tokyo University recruitment promotional video "Explorer"

In April 2014, the University of Tokyo released an admissions promotion called "Explorer," which was planned and produced by Ogilvy & Mather. The entire article records the entire process of Naoko Yamazaki, a graduate of the 1993 class of the University of Tokyo and the second female astronaut in Japanese history, from entering the university campus to returning to Earth on the space shuttle. The main screen captures the dynamic beauty of the series: Naoko Yamazaki walks back and forth in a space suit, touching and observing the world, and finally takes off the heavy helmet under the morning sun, as if exploring the relationship between the individual and the outside world.

Since 1877, the University of Tokyo has been committed to cultivating talents for space exploration, and its tradition and innovation have made it a world-class university. When technology becomes an extension of man, we may be able to listen to the voice of individuals in this era of running.

Perhaps because of its amazing creativity, it was "tributed" to. In 2015, when Fudan University celebrated its 110th anniversary, it released a promotional video "To My Light", but it was questioned because it was highly similar to the original.

6. Thai inspirational film, escape the vicious circle of "I could have"

Bangkok University 2020 Admissions Advertisement "Take Back Your Passion"

Subtitles from the new studio

Thai advertisements, adhering to the principle of “there is nothing you can’t imagine and nothing can’t be filmed”, never follow the beaten path. Compared with domestic recruitment advertisements that sell ideal qualities, they often hit the pain points with a sharp perspective. Look, this recruitment advertisement from Bangkok University waged a psychological warfare from the perspective of dreams, telling every candidate sincerely and inspiringly what is the most important thing in choosing a major.

Everyone has two faces: there is a positive side, and there are times when they feel depressed and want to be lazy. But passion alone is not enough to realize one's dreams. The meaning of entering university is to systematically turn your passion into a profession. The most "down-to-earth" recruitment advertisement in history is here.

Summarize

Behind all kinds of college recruitment publicity lies the efforts made by colleges and universities to change in the face of the new generation. Under the intense pressure of the national college entrance examination, students all hope to have more time to relax. This is reflected in their self-made recruitment advertisements, and has also brought more discussion to colleges and universities. And I also hope that the purpose of recruitment advertisements is not to brainwash or to pursue entertainment, but to communicate sincerely. While all the major universities put aside their burdens and "have fun together with the people", they can also display their educational philosophy, school spirit, cultural characteristics and enrollment needs in a humorous yet serious manner, and showcase the vigorous and progressive spirit of contemporary youth through enrollment advertisements, setting positive values ​​for the new generation.

Author: Shuying.com

Source: Shuying.com