Challenge

Dale Carnegie, a national leader in communications and presentation training, had begun to see a drop-off in registrations for its traditional 6 to 12-evening classes. Carnegie also experienced a demographic shift in class make-up. The student average age was increasing and the number of individual registrations was decreasing. Dale Carnegie determined that a significant portion of their market – managers, team leaders and sales professionals—were reluctant to sacrifice family time by attending a training class in the evenings. In addition, direct mail continued to increase in cost, while HR and sales professionals were researching classes more and more online.

Objective

• Launch two-day seminar as a new product to fulfill current training needs within a concentrated schedule.
• Use the Internet to re-introduce Dale Carnegie to managers and professionals seeking a work-friendly solution to training.
• Position Dale Carnegie as current, trusted and relevant in business training.

Solution

An integrated campaign was created that presented the benefits of Dale Carnegie professional training programs in their new time-saving, family-friendly two-day formats. A simple, iconic visual of a milk “chug” and gallon container was devised that quickly communicated the “new convenient size” in training programs.  Integral to the campaign was the new website that featured real-life success stories and testimonials from previous students. Our reach-out efforts included email marketing; eBlasts sent to prospects and former students as well as third-party emails. All were linked to customized landing pages to facilitate registration. Outdoor billboards, with our distinctive milk containers were strategically positioned along commuter roadways with a results-tracking toll-free number.