"Become by Doing" Campaign Launches to Celebrate and Attract Students
Cal Poly Pomona has launched the “Become by Doing” enrollment and awareness campaign to celebrate current students and attract prospective students, by showcasing the life-changing impact and career outcomes they experience from the high-quality education that faculty and staff deliver at the nation’s No. 1 polytechnic university for diversity and economic mobility.
Green & Gold Week
The campaign launch, timed to the start of the spring semester and CPP’s critical enrollment “yield” season, is part of a series of events celebrating Green & Gold Week:
- Billy Bronco will be on the loose around campus with some pretty sweet surprises (Tuesday, Jan. 28 and Wednesday, Jan. 29).
- Become by Doing Pop-Up (Thursday, Jan. 30, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Horseshoe Hill) – Get free T-shirts, treats and other swag items with new branding and see a preview of CPP’s new commercial.
- Green & Gold Block Party (Saturday, Feb. 1, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bronco Commons) – Get swag items with new branding and enjoy free food, carnival games, rides and opportunity drawings.
- Green & Gold soft serve and cookies at Centerpointe (Monday, Jan. 27 to Saturday, Feb. 1)
The ‘Become by Doing’ Campaign
Through strategic storytelling, the campaign shares Cal Poly Pomona’s distinctive strengths, including highly-ranked programs, The CPP Polytechnic Experience delivered by esteemed faculty and staff mentors, its campus and location, and the career outcomes alumni have achieved.
“Become by Doing” doesn’t replace the university’s “Learn by Doing” motto, which CPP will proudly continue to use. Yet that isn’t unique to the university — Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) uses the motto — and differentiating from SLO is important as CPP competes for students and resources. By building on “Learn by Doing,” the new campaign slogan shows the outcome: At CPP, when you learn by doing, you become by doing. The campaign also features the message “Learn. Do. Become.” Together, these messages speak to what’s unique about the university and address the desire of prospective students and their families to know what they can expect from a CPP education.
Broncos and the wider community can see the “Become by Doing” campaign, which uses focused messaging supported by new branding with a redesigned logo, come to life on CPP’s refreshed website; posts on Instagram and other social media channels; light pole banners celebrating students; messaging on the exteriors of the CLA building and the University Library; a series of posters around campus with inspiring quotes from alumni; and more video, print and digital advertising for prospective students and the Bronco community on campus and throughout Southern California in the months ahead.
The college enrollment and university awareness campaign is built on a multi-year prospective student outreach and recruitment strategy. It includes communications covering each step that a potential Bronco and their family encounter on the prospective student journey, from their initial contact with the campus to class enrollment.
“CPP has a strong reputation but low awareness, and we can’t afford to be a ‘hidden gem’ any longer,” said Amon Rappaport, chief communications officer. “Our state funding is now tied to meeting enrollment goals and we’re experiencing increased competition to attract students, a drop in applications for next fall and a decline in the percent of admitted students who enroll.”
By elevating awareness of CPP’s excellence and impact, the university seeks to increase its admissions yield (e.g., the percentage of admitted students who ultimately enroll) and increase financial support, partnerships and resources to support the success of current students, faculty, staff and the institution. The university’s planned campaign investment of $4.1 million over three fiscal years — funded by a philanthropic gift and not any state, tuition or other donor sources — is below the average that large universities and competing campuses in the California State University system are spending on similar efforts.
The Department of Strategic Communications is leading the development and implementation of the campaign in collaboration with leadership, faculty, staff and student assistants across campus including the nine colleges; Enrollment Management and Services; Outreach, Recruitment and Educational Partnerships; Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises; and all six divisions. To develop the campaign strategy, Strategic Communications undertook years of consultation, interviews and focus groups with more than 500 students, alumni, faculty, staff, leadership and philanthropic partners, and conducted deep research into CPP’s audiences and higher education trends. The campaign website includes more background and FAQs, and the brand website has tools like Zoom backgrounds and social media assets that Broncos can use to promote CPP and its impact.
The messaging strategy used in the campaign is already proving effective. Elements of the initiative’s storytelling focused on helping students achieve their dreams of success increased donations by 26 percent, and average gift amount by 34 percent, in the 2023 year-end fundraising appeal. Similar messaging was used to recruit the most recent incoming class of freshman and transfer students, resulting in a record-setting number of first-year student applications for fall 2024 and making CPP one of only eight CSU campuses to meet its enrollment targets.
