Blinn wins six national higher education marketing awards

Blinn captures gold awards for its student viewbook, annual Chancellor’s Report, recruiting mailers, and Preview Days open house brochures

March 22, 2023

The Blinn College District Marketing and Communications Department recently won six national marketing awards for publications that spotlight the College’s unique educational opportunities.

The Collegiate Advertising Awards recognized Blinn with Gold Awards for its direct mail campaign recruiting local high school students and its brochure for prospective students visiting campus on Preview Days. In the Educational Advertising Awards, Blinn won gold for its 2022-23 student viewbook and 2022 Chancellor’s Report and the Bronze Award for its Preview Days brochure and direct mail campaign.

“We are proud to create pieces that highlight the hard work of Blinn’s faculty and staff and showcase the many reasons why Blinn College is an outstanding place for students to learn new skills and make lifelong friendships,” said Richard Bray, Director of Communications, Media Relations, and Marketing. “It is an honor to share Blinn’s beautiful campuses and outstanding programs with future students across the state.”

Blinn’s viewbook, designed by Assistant Director for Marketing and Creative Services Darla Arter, provides incoming students an overview of the campuses and programs that make Blinn unique among Texas community colleges. Blinn’s Marketing Department worked alongside Vice Chancellor for Student Services Dr. Becky McBride and Director of Prospective Student Relations and Enrollment Management Elaine Abshire to develop the viewbook.

Through Blinn’s annual Chancellor’s Report, Dr. Mary Hensley, Chancellor of the Blinn College District, shares the College’s top news and stories, allowing the community to see the wide range of exciting developments taking place across the district. The piece is designed by Arter with written content from Bray, Communication Specialists Arthur Hahn and Adriane Reams, and Sports Information Specialist Joe Alberico.

Blinn’s Preview Days brochures were developed in collaboration with Director Elaine Abshire and the Prospective Student Relations Department. These brochures serve as a guide for prospective students and their families as they learn about Blinn’s academic programs, visit with faculty and staff, toured the campus, learn about the College’s academic support services, and receive admissions and financial aid assistance.

Blinn’s direct mail campaign shared information about Blinn’s academic, extracurricular, and transfer opportunities with thousands of high school juniors and seniors in local high schools. Through the campaign, students were invited to learn more about the housing and extracurricular activities available on the Blinn-Brenham Campus; the College’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs; Blinn’s innovative transfer programs and its role as the community college partner in the RELLIS Academic Alliance; and its applied technology programs, including skilled trades and the health sciences.

The Educational Advertising Awards is the largest educational advertising awards competition in the nation. This year’s competition received more than 2,000 entries from all 50 states and several foreign countries. Judges consisted of a national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, and marketing and advertising professionals.

The Collegiate Advertising Awards program is a national competition honoring excellence in higher education marketing and advertising. Submissions were reviewed and scored by a national panel of industry experts, with a possibility of 100 total points. Gold awards received a judges’ score of 95 to 99 (top 5% in the nation); silver awards earned 90 to 94 (top 12% in the nation); and bronze awards earned 85 to 89 (top 16% in the nation).