At this time of year, there are loads of unis spending their advertising budget to get the last few students, who haven't made up their mind, to choose them. They're all the same right? Yep. An inspirational ad full of campus shots and 'students' talking about something or other. I could hardly differentiate from one to the next, except with this one:
It's the University-level study in the Highlands and Islands advert. Nothing overally special or different, apart from the fact, I didn't see that one on the TV... I saw this one:
It's in Gaelic! What a lovely idea. And, it's the first Scotland wide TV ad to be broadcast in Gaelic. What's seems really odd. Granted I had no idea what it said, but it 'said' enough to me to put UHI on the map. I didn't notice any other ads during the break, I wasn't even looking at the TV. Yet I heard something in Gaelic and looked up at the screen. A ploy? Some free PR or just a clever bit of marketing?
With the tagline ‘Think UHI’ the £25k, 30 sec ad, which many can't understood has been considered an over indulgence.
But UHI believe the ad will signal the “difference” between it and it's competitors as they "put the language front and centre of their plans to reach out to a new generation of students."
I can only hope it works, because I think it's great for a Scottish uni to be promoting their language.
I also wondered if the new GoCompare ad is less annoying in Gaelic. Well, maybe not.