Glasgow Caledonian University

Talking about my generation

In order to shift the perception of GCU, and supercharge their upcoming recruitment campaign, we knew something bold was needed. Our research had identified that everyone had their own notion of what For The Common Good meant, and many struggled to connect with how this idea was being presented.

The answer was to turn the tables – to shine a spotlight on the students, not the university; to appeal to their innate sense of individuality and desire to change the world. We needed to channel the power of recruitment campaigns that already did this well (think Armed Forces ad campaigns). And to do that, we needed to find some students to be our poster girls and boys. With the Principal and wider leadership on board, we initiated a university-wide recruitment drive to find our ‘Common Good’ students. The truth was we weren’t too sure what we would find, but what we did find blew us away: a group of students with remarkable qualities, and memorable stories.

Between them they had founded a charity for the city’s homeless, repaired and driven ambulances to Ukraine, launched a mental health awareness campaign on TikTok, organised LGBTQ+ marches for students, and established a literacy programme for disadvantaged children. In short, they were living out the promise of For The Common Good.

An uncommon approach

In meeting these students, and hearing their stories, there was something striking and uncommon about each of them. Uncommon bravery, uncommon belief, uncommon resilience, uncommon effort. The idea stuck, and the campaign was born:
Uncommon People for The Common Good.

Not only did this capture the spirit of these remarkable students (13 were selected from a short-list of over 40). It allowed us to directly link their stories to 'The Common Good' and bring the university’s purpose to life in a way which few recruitment campaigns have managed to do.

Designers, copywriters, videographers, sound engineers, and photographers were all brought in to capture these students’ stories and present them to the world – initially in the form of a recruitment campaign for Clearing.

The marketing team at GCU backed our judgement and took the decision not only to let these students be heard, but to amplify their voice. Billboards, buses, train stations, bus stations, roadside posters, newspaper adverts (even music festival screens): during July and August of 2022 it was hard to walk down a street in Glasgow without seeing the faces of our student heroes.