San Jacinto College: Cracking Open Doors to a Brighter Future with OpenFortune
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63%
Unaided recall
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20%
More likely to seek info
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7.5%
Shared on social
“OpenFortune has been awesome to work with from start to finish. Communication-wise, helping us with creative and messaging, and y’all are a lot of fun too. It’s been a great (and easy!) experience.”
- Amanda Fenwick
San Jacinto College’s Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations
San Jacinto College. Founded back in 1961, this Hispanic-serving institution has five campuses sprinkled across East Harris County, Texas. They've got a solid 41,000 students enrolled each year, and with over 200 degrees and certificates on offer, there's something for everyone.
Oh, and did we mention they've been recognized as one of the top five community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute? Plus, they snagged the title of Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. Not too shabby.
San Jac was crushing it with the fresh-faced high school grads, but they hit a wall when it came to the "adult population" - those mythical creatures aged 25 to 45 who've tasted the real world and decided, "Nah, I think I'll go back to school."
Traditional OOH and social media marketing weren't cutting it. San Jac knew it needed a creative approach to drive visitors to its website, familiarize them with available programs, and ultimately boost enrollment in both online and on-campus classes.
Something fresh, something bold, something... cookie-shaped?
After a series of attention-grabbing cold emails, San Jacinto College’s Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, Amanda Fenwick, decided to partner with OpenFortune and take a calculated risk on an unconventional advertising method.
The logic? People often discuss important life decisions, including education, around the dinner table. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love cracking open a fortune cookie at the end of a meal?
So, OpenFortune whips up a batch of custom cookies, each one carefully crafted to align with San Jac's mission and goals. On the front you’ve got fortunes about success, wisdom, and opportunity. On the back, there’s inspirational copy complete with San Jac’s logo and a QR code leading straight to a landing page.
The cookies were then strategically distributed around restaurants in the college's district, lying in wait for unsuspecting potential students.
Fast forward to the end of the campaign, and OpenFortune comes back with this super detailed report, breaking down every last crumb of the cookie's performance. The San Jac team was so excited about being the first higher education institution in Texas to try this, they even did a little happy dance in the office.
“You clearly did your research. You understood our message, who we were, and what we were about. Everything was on-brand which is normally not the case when working with other vendors.”
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63%
Unaided recall
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20%
More likely to seek info
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7.5%
Shared on social
As you can imagine, San Jac created quite a stir. People were sharing their fortunes on social, restaurant hopping to collect ‘em all, and sending the college chancellor photos of their fortunes like they were going out of style.
The campaign connected with potential students in a way traditional methods couldn't. Brand visibility? Check. Enrollment interest? Double-check. Renewal of partnership with OpenFortune? You bet they did. Three times over the last two years.
And there you have it, folks. San Jacinto College: changing lives one fortune cookie at a time.
"You wouldn’t think that fortune cookies are something that you need to add to your marketing mix, but it’s worked and it’s a lot of fun. When I was planning my budget earlier this year, I never thought I'd need a line item for fortune cookie advertising, but now I do.”
Amanda Fenwick
San Jacinto College’s Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations
Connect with OpenFortune, and let’s cook up a campaign that will put your brand at the center of conversations, on the tip of tongues, and all over social media.
