Southern Cross University appoints Blaze Advertising as creative agency of record

Southern Cross University has added firepower to its marketing and communications stable with the 3-year appointment of Blaze Advertising to its advertising roster, winning a nation-wide tender with global agencies participating.

Blaze will be working for the University in a full-service capacity, providing strategy, creative, media and digital. Comprising 4 main campuses that take in northern 
New South Wales (Lismore and Coffs Harbour), Southern Queensland (Gold Coast) and the University’s online capabilities, SCU attracts students to its Australian campuses from a wide range of countries, has operations onshore in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, has a growing Online Campus, and operates in several countries offshore including but not limited to China, and Papua New Guinea.

The appointment is a notable win for Blaze, who have become a GEN Y & X specialist of late with a host of graduate attraction campaigns for major corporates recently completed.

Says Chris Patton, global vice president, Southern Cross University: “We are delighted to partner with Blaze as our new creative agency and are impressed with their digital capabilities.  Blaze’s talented team and global depth of resources will now be available to the University as we embark on a bold new direction.  We believe Blaze is the right partner for us as we seek to showcase our passion for education, the essence of our brand, and all that the University stands for.”

Says Leanne Krstevski, CEO, Blaze Australia: “We’re excited to have been selected to lead Southern Cross University’s marketing and communications approach. Blaze have extensive experience targeting GenX and GenY segments – so we understand this area very well. We will be able to build on our audience insights and leverage and apply our expertise to develop the brand from the nucleus. The team at Blaze are thrilled to take the Southern Cross University brand to new heights, so watch 
this space.”

Says Casey Aimer, national head of digital, Blaze Advertising: “We were impressed to get to know the many amazing stories at Southern Cross that we can tell. We’re looking to take new audiences on a journey that reveals unique and interesting reasons to consider Southern Cross. While every medium is important, digital efforts across social, programmatic, video and website experiences have the potential to play a leading role in this mission and an enormous opportunity to extend SCU’s digital footprint.”

Says Patrick Rychner, executive creative director, Blazes Advertising: “In the Tertiary Sector there is a lot of ‘same-same-live-the-dream’ material. In our initial exploration with stakeholders, it became clear that SCU has a differentiated offering and stand-out attributes that need to be dialed up and communicated in a fresh and relevant way. There’s real enthusiasm and massive potential to energise the SCU brand and to carve out a strong, differentiated position.