That three-word slogan serves as the basis of the new marketing strategy launched by Saint Louis University this summer in an attempt to attract high-performing students to campus and to broaden the University’s appeal on a national scale.
The Billiken-SLU’s one-of-a-kind mascot-is the campaign’s inspiration.
“There are a thousand Wildcats and Bears, but there is only one Billiken,” said Associate Vice President of University Marketing and Communications Jeff Fowler. “The Billiken is unique to SLU and served as our starting point.”
The “Be a Billiken” campaign hopes to forge a new image for the University. Major facets of the initiative include the launch a new website for prospective students and stylized posters and mailers sent to prospective students.
Trying to capitalize on the intrigue that they believe is garnered by the Billiken, the creators of the campaign designed the marketing strategy to raise prospective students’ curiosity.
“We want students who see the campaign to ask questions,” said Boyd A. Bradshaw, Ed.D., vice provost of the Division of Enrollment Management. “We want to make students ask, ‘What is a Billiken?’ ‘What does that mean?’ and ‘How do I become one?'”
SLU hopes to pique the interest of a certain group of students in particular.
“We were interested in telling people who and what we are to attract high-performing students,” Fowler said.
The new campaign aims at students by continuing with the “Be” theme, asking prospective students to “be outstanding,” “be involved” and, overall, to “be unique,” which they are marketing as the embodiment of the Billiken mascot.
Sophomore Mitchell Johnson, a student focused in on the campaign, likes the slogan and hopes that all students take up the invitation.
“Everyone should strive to be a Billiken. Not just on campus, but in our communities and at home. To be a Billiken is to be involved, to be a man or woman for others. We all can do it,” Johnson said.
Not all students are quite as thrilled with the intention of the campaign as a whole.
“The campaign is great, but perhaps the University should focus more on retaining current students [who are already] enrolled,” said sophomore and Student Government Association Senator Chris McGeehan. “You can attract all the new students you want, but if they leave after freshmen year then it was all for nothing.”
A centerpiece of the “Be a Billiken” campaign is its new website, BeABilliken.com. Bradshaw said that the project is developing a virtual tour for the website which will look like a video game, complete with allowing students to create an avatar of themselves to walk around through the campus.
The campaign was launched June 1 with the website; mailings and brochures were mailed out for the first time last week.
Administrators said that it is too soon to tell how effective the campaign will be; however, Fowler said that, during the first month, BeABilliken.com received more than 4,000 hits.
