In 2017, California’s Community College (CCC) system set out to boost the number of students completing Career Education programs. By increasing the number of people earning associate degrees, credentials, certificates, or the acquired skill sets, they could help fill the many current and future job openings for in-demand careers across the state.
Statewide Strategy
To do this, they set out to challenge the stigma associated with Career Education as a lesser option compared to four-year, and even two-year, degree programs. Part of CCC’s recommendations included dropping the “technical” part of “career technical education.” Additionally, CCC created a state-level campaign template and photography library, as well as offered funding for local districts to market to their communities.
Local Audience Expectations
For local community colleges and districts, this created both an opportunity and a challenge. Because the statewide campaign was designed to reach a widespread and general audience, it lacked the customization needed to appeal to local students on region-specific programs.
This was the challenge Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) partnered with 3fold to solve.