Have you heard of Brickfields Asia College?

Cause Effect has always noticed this college. They market themselves actively and efficiently.

They’re on Youtube, Facebook, Radio, TV and you can see their posters everywhere.

Their branding is rock solid. We think they can do better on Facebook, though. Of course they can.

Do you (yes, you!) know how to analyse your company to create the right ads? If you’re unsure, here’s an example!

How To Start Marketing BAC

What Do They Do?

“From pre-university courses to professional courses, both full-time and part-time, Brickfields Asia College offers you an educational experience which will prepare you for life and career challenges that lie ahead. Browse through our varied course listings or use the course search index to find the right subject area for you.”

Those are their words. That’s a very friendly tone of voice, don’t you think?

What’s Special About Them?

This college was founded on passion. The founder is a man named Raja Singham. He started this college at 24, based on a dream to provide high-quality legal education to the masses. Here’s the full story if you’re interested: (link).

That’s an amazing start. Here are some of their USPs (Unique Selling Proposition): 

1. Proven Track Record

Over 400 World and National Top Students, Book Prize Winners, 1st Class and 2nd Uppers over the past 3 years.

2. World-Class Qualifications

Choose from a wide range of qualifications offered by world- class universities and professional bodies.

3. Free Books & Study Materials

Free textbooks, study manuals, statute books, revision guides, past year questions and answers are provided along with other relevant course materials.

4. Service Excellence

BAC has a history of providing the best possible support for students from providing career advice and guidance to student support services.

5. Scholarships & Financial Aid

Scholarships, PTPTN loans, instalment schemes, 0% interest instalment payment plans and EPF withdrawals are available.

6. Strategically Located

BAC’s campuses in KL and PJ are easily accessible by LRT, Monorail, KTM Komuter, buses as well as other public transportation.

Who Are Their Ads Targeting?

Being a college, we can’t see specific targeting in their ads. It’s quite general.

From our observation, we would set their targeting to the parents and students in Klang Valley.

Since they have programs that provide free textbooks and financial aid, BAC makes their services accessible to students and parents from all income segments.

What’s Their Style?

Let’s take a look at their branding elements!

All of their ads play with three colours:

Yellow. Black. White.

Here’s an advertisement by BAC:

It looks credible, but it’s also very cheerful. The yellow colour makes it seem active, and they almost always use smiles in their ads. That’s a very smart idea!!

Their brand identity is very strong. They’re consistent too.

In all of their posts and ad copy, they sound very friendly and warm. Professional, but warm.

This is what you call brand persona. The personality of a brand. When you’re talking to others, a lack of personality can be disastrous! This, of course, applies to social media as well.

We’re going to be splitting up this article into two! One article will feature the ads targeted towards parents (this one) and the other article will focus on the ads targeted towards the student.

Maybe you can make a comparison and learn how to optimise your content for different markets. Let’s begin!

Ad Variation 1

For this ad, we’re trying to talk about the skill one needs to get employed. It’s quite common to change course and work in a profession you did not study for these days.

We understand parents are worried about this trend.

Message

Are you worried about your child’s future?

Tell us one parent who does not. This statement shows an attempt to relate to the parents while speaking directly to them.

Skillset. Adapt. Future. Career. Experience.

These are the keywords we chose to highlight in the ad.

This is to show parents that BAC creates flexible graduates who can survive in any profession.

Not job. Not employment. Career. That’s something a parent wishes for their child. Something parents can be proud of.

Image

“I am a Chief Engineer + Attorney General + Senior Executive + Corporate Account Manager”

These are all occupations that we passed through a small focus group. We wanted to see what careers parents prefer for their children.

The flexibility to do any or all of these makes BAC an institution that will really prepare their children.

Link Headline

“BAC Creates Valuable Graduates!”

Valuable. Now there’s an important word. They don’t create high-quality graduates. They create “valuable graduates” that can actually perform at work.

Link Description

We wanted BAC’s passion to communicate itself. So we used an excerpt from one of their USPs “Outstanding Faculty”.

You definitely want to learn more.

Ad Variation 2

Now BAC is an academic institution. We want to show the support system. We also want to solve another pain point for parents: employability.

This ad does both.

Message

It’s the same mechanism with a slight difference from the previous one. The relating statement is positive.

The keywords we chose were active, successful and guide.

This communicates an additional support to maximise employment rates for BAC graduates.

The message also shows successful graduates from BAC. This increases the credibility of the college to the parent.

Image

The image shows the faces of past graduates. The message links these successful graduates to the future students of BAC.

Showing the faces reinforces the idea that BAC produces a lot of successful graduates. The smaller circles show that as well.

“Making Waves In the Industry” shows that the graduates from BAC are well known.

Link Headline

“Let The Successful Inspire Your Child”

This headline provides one thing parents really want: A responsible role model.

Security and assurance are always important in advertising and marketing.

Link Description

The caption in this area was taken from one of BAC’s USPS “World-Class Qualifications” in order to support the earlier claims.

A final push to act is also inserted to maximise clicks.

Ad Variation 3

Some parents have an unhealthy distrust of educational authority figures. Through this ad, we try to show that BAC is different.

The core philosophy of education is to nurture.

Message

Irresponsible (negative) and lazy (negative) teaching methods. This is an affirmation of a pain point.

BAC thinks differently. BAC encourages (positive) 2-way communication and ensures (positive) your child gets the best support (positive) and guidance (positive) by our industry experienced faculty (USP)!

Image

“We Don’t Just Teach. We Nurture”

We do more than teach. We help your child grow.

This image subtly communicates aspects of a holistic education.

Link Headline

No More Boring Lessons For Your Child!

This shows an active commitment to keep your child interested and engage in the course.

Link Description

We supported the ad with another USP talking about BAC’s service excellence, followed by the last call to action.

Conclusion

If you don’t think this is enough, don’t worry. We plan to provide more insight in PART 2 of the article that will be released on the 28/4/2017.

Cause Effect hopes you liked what we had to say. Please share your input and comments with us on Facebook. We’ll be glad to respond and discuss it further.

If you think this article helped you to develop new ideas in marketing your business on the digital front, feel free to check out the other articles on our blog.

Better yet, shoot us an email and let’s discuss it over coffee!  All you have to do is click the Ask Us Anything button below.

We hope BAC doesn’t take this article offensively. We’re just trying to improve our own thought processes while trying to help other marketers gain a better handle on digital marketing.

Cheers!

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