CU Denver advertising campaign soars through DIA

The large scale of CU Denver's 'Learn with Purpose' installation at Denver International Airport, including wall and 50-yard-long floor signage, is a first for the airport.

CU Denver's "Learn with Purpose" campaign is lifting off to new heights.

Beginning this month, big and bold signage emblazoned with "CU Denver" and "Learn With Purpose" as well as the faces of students and faculty from our campus, will greet passengers at Denver International Airport as they stroll through the Concourse C train station.

Travelers will see something that's groundbreaking for DIA. The immense scale of the CU Denver installation, including eye-catching panels on the station walls as well as a floor graphic that extends 50 yards from escalator to escalator, is a first for the airport, one of the busiest in the nation.

The advertising push, launched in fall 2013, wrapped up a successful first year with a survey asking the university community as well as business and community leaders what they thought about Learn With Purpose, CU Denver's most comprehensive advertising campaign.

"The feedback was extremely positive. People not only wanted us to continue the campaign but expand on it," said Karen Klimczak, the university's director of marketing. "This large-scale presence in DIA is an extension of the first year of the campaign. We're excited to be in the airport over the high-traffic holiday months of November and December."

The campaign, which involved Denver advertising agency Karsh/Hagan, is part of a long-term effort to raise CU Denver's profile and strengthen its brand as a leading research university in a vibrant urban environment. The campaign is targeted toward community and business leaders and other influencers in the Denver metropolitan market. The DIA installation will be among the most high-profile components yet, reaching a high volume of travelers from our region as well as those who come from afar to visit Colorado.

"The visuals in the DIA panels are representative of the Learn With Purpose campaign and continue to use our actual students and faculty," Klimczak said. "This is an opportunity for us to showcase not only our students and faculty but our campus and urban setting as well."

The upcoming year of the campaign will feature a new TV commercial; a continued presence on Larimer Square; print, radio and digital advertising; and an encore of the popular and interactive Learn With Purpose button wall in front of North Classroom.

The campaign includes an updated microsite—learnwithpurpose.org—and more storytelling. "According to our survey feedback, the Learn With Purpose tagline resonated quite well, and people wanted further definition of learn with purpose and more real-life stories about our campus — a showcase of both of the student experience as well as how our faculty bring learning with purpose to life," Klimczak said.

In addition to deeper storytelling on the microsite, the campaign this year features regular Learn With Purpose perspectives in the CU Denver Today newsletter and focused delivery of Learn With Purpose messages in public outreach.

Anyone who sees the compelling installation in the Concourse C train station is encouraged to get a photo of themselves in front of the CU Denver signage and disperse it on social media— #LearnWithPurpose.