Billy Blue uses AR to develop educational marketing

Australia – Australia’s Billy Blue College of Design is pushing the boundaries of educational marketing with its first-ever augmented reality (AR) prospectus.

The campaign, dubbed Start Your Adventure, is an interactive alternative to traditional course guides, running across multiple billboards in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Taking a phygital approach, the AR experience is activated via a QR code, bringing to life various aspects of Billy Blue's design courses and the college experience. Among the activations are a TikTok advertisement and an influencer engagement initiative, tapping into the visual-first behaviours of its target youth audience.

Partnering with creative agencies SomeOne, VCCP and Unbnd, Billy Blue is connecting with prospective students in a way that feels familiar and engaging, while also showcasing its creative abilities as a design school. ‘AR advertising... offers a much more immersive and emotive experience that really captures users’ attention in a memorable way,' says Beth Duddy, customer experience director at VCCP.

While educational marketing traditionally relies heavily on print-based brochures and ads, Billy Blue is developing communications for the sector by allowing its audience to experience college life in a bold new way.