I’m proud of this Dining Services advertisement in The Lantern’s BuckeyeBound issue.
The goal of this ad was to educate incoming Ohio State students about the wide variety of campus dining options. We don’t want students stuck waiting in long lines at Traditions dining halls when they could go somewhere else like a café to grab lunch. It can be hard to realize all that’s offered on a campus as large as Ohio State.
This project started with a virtual meeting with dining senior leadership to hear their goals for the ad and understand historical context of this issue. I took a lot of notes in that meeting and used that to guide my first draft. I wrote out the copy, sent it to leadership to be approved. I shared the copy with the graphic design team only to realize that I had written way too much. The first draft of the ad was too text heavy. Ruthlessly, I edited down the copy, trying to get it as lean as possible. I wanted there to be room in the ad for a photo to catch student’s attention.
I don’t take it for granted when leadership invests in paid advertising. It challenges me to make the most of the space and show a meaningful return.
If I could do this project again, I’d make a new Go Link to better track web visits. The Go Link used is a few years old and only tells me the total number of web visits, not by date. I’d also try to seek out student feedback on the ad. I would’ve liked to have asked a student how they interpreted the ad.
I liked this project because, showing personal bias, I will forever have a soft spot for newspapers, especially student newspapers like The Lantern. I think student journalists work hard sharing important campus news. Being involved in my student newspaper at Denison was one of my favorite college memories. I still have a binder of newspaper clippings of all the stories I wrote.
See the ad on page 38: https://issuu.com/thelantern/docs/buckeye_bound_2024_final_2
Debbie Wakefield 