When Education Planner BC came to us (at Massive) they were on a mission to get the word out about one of British Columbia’s most helpful resources for students, teachers and parents planning to attend post-secondary college or university. The EPBC site had been designed as a comprehensive, one-stop-resource that aggregated information about programs, admissions, tuition, and more from every post-secondary institution in the province. The problem was that very few people knew about it.

Before we could launch a campaign, we needed to dig into the Education Planner resource itself and understand what its greatest value could be to potential users. We needed to identify and learn about the EPBC’s potential audiences, understand their problems, pain-points with existing resources, worries and key drivers. Through thoughtful research, focus groups, and user interviews, we were able to identify our top 4 audiences: 

• High School students who were evaluating potential career paths and deciding what and where to study  
• mature students who were looking to further their education or embark in post-secondary education for the first time
• Parents and guardians who wanted to support their children’s post-secondary education journey
• Teachers and counsellors who wanted to provide resources and guidance to students and parents alike

We needed to create a campaign that would resonate with this diverse group of people and speak to their unique needs. How could we reinforce a single brand identity, yet still speak to the unique needs of its diverse audiences across a range of demographics? And how could a campaign be memorable, captivating and professional without producing any custom video footage or photographs?

We set out to find the common ground amongst all these potential audiences. What aesthetic could appeal to 3 generations: a 16 year old student, a working professional, and a parent? There it was: the 90’s in all its gritty, grungy glory. As an aesthetic that had re-emerged in Gen Z trends, we created a both current moment for highschool students, tapping into their spirit of activism and leaning into current digital fads, and a nostalgic moment for mature students and parents, a sort of flashback to their own teenage years. Leveraging EPBC’s energetic colour palette, and clean typeface, we emboldened the campaign look and feel with collage illustrations, scratchy, handwritten details, and early internet inspired UI. We now had a toolkit of colours, cutouts, and elements to work with. We wrote a series of ad messages for each group, modifying the ad copy for its digital, social or OOH placement, then dialled up / dialled back the 90’s grunge factor depending on the audience. We launched the campaign in early Fall 2021 on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter and Google, and in physical spaces such as in Vancouver’s sky Train, BC bus stops, and movie theatres.