Right-Half Chow: Dare to think

I don't have the habit of posting work from the office but sometimes I just can't help it...

A few years ago we came up with the 'dare to think' idea for the University of Ghent, when most universities and high school educational institutions in Belgium were still portraying themselves using improbable career perspectives and uninteresting (and stupidly bland) promises of the 'exciting student life beyond the school's walls'...

It seemed like a good idea to talk about a mentality rather than a promise: an independent university for independent minds, embodied in the 'dare to think' moniker.

4 years down the line we still use the same concept and it's proven highly effective, not just the sheer increase of the number of students that apply every year, but especially the increase in pride and the number of billboards that are being stolen all over the city of ghent. Without using any blatant nudity, we might add. What's more: the whole proposition is so unique and right for the brand that it allows us to use new ideas and emanations of the concept every year, without losing anything in attribution or recognisability, it's perfect illustration of the coherent vs consistent debate.

One of the curious things about the campaign is the fact that it remains pretty hard to brief new teams every year: for once they're being told that a campaign shoulcn't be immediately comprehensible and straight to the point but rather confusing and thought-inducing. You'd think that that would be a great add-on to any briefing, but it tends to complicate things. In the end there's just one benchmark for us: does it make you think in more than one direction? As our creative director put it: the ad is the entry exam.

And just for the record: the Darfur one was conceived before Spielberg turned against the IOC, we actually asked permission to use the rings in november last year. Given the current commotion it is not that difficult to see why they asked the university to stop using the image though...

On a final note, the radio spots (for the Dutch speaking among you) can be heard here, here and here. And as a brilliant illustration of the campaign, a known Belgian radio station pulled the Consolidated ad, even though they have the song on their playlist. What a contrast with this fantastic piece by the sceptical futuryst.

Sorry for that, we're just really happy with the campaign...