Some Northeast Ohio colleges are hoping advertising during the Summer Olympics in Paris gets them a gold medal with audiences – including potential students.  

Case Western Reserve University, Cuyahoga Community College and Kent State University each bought time with Cleveland’s NBC affiliate, WKYC Studios. This means the commercials the schools produced aired only locally during the broadcasts. The Olympics will run through Aug. 11.

Nationally, these Olympic Games are getting lots of eyeballs. An average of 34 million people tuned into prime-time coverage during the first five days of events, according to the Washington Post. 

Read on to learn more about what these colleges are championing with their ads and why they are airing them. 

Case Western Reserve’s Olympic ad touts research

Case Western Reserve chose to put what it calls “life-changing research” front and center. The university’s 30-second spot tells the story of Austin Beggin, a Lima resident paralyzed during a diving accident nearly a decade ago. He’s now working with university researchers to regain some movement.  

The university plans to air the ad throughout the games, according to a news release. The university – which is a private institution and not subject to Ohio’s open records law –  declined to tell Signal Cleveland how much it spent on the ad, though they did say the university’s team produced the commercial in-house.  

Cuyahoga Community College shares motivational message in Olympics ad  

Cuyahoga Community College officials said advertising during these games presented a “tremendous opportunity” to tout its brand to a large television audience across Northeast Ohio.

The college’s commercials center on the tagline “keep moving forward,” seemingly showing students translating their dreams into something tangible. In one clip, for example, a young man plays basketball at a neighborhood court before suiting up in a Tri-C jersey. 

“The high profile of the Olympics allows us to gain more traction in reaching prospective students as well as those who influence their choice of college, such as parents, friends and family members,” Tri-C officials said in a statement to Signal Cleveland.

Tri-C used a media buying service to secure a package of 76 ad placements for $72,930, according to information the school provided. Officials said these ads fall within their regular fall enrollment campaign.  

Kent State highlights global spirit for Olympics ad 

Northeast Ohio’s biggest public university purchased six different spots set to air about 90 times. The cost totals about $130,000, university officials told Signal Cleveland.  

Kent State’s marketing team created each commercial in-house. The ads highlight several members of the university’s community, including track and field standout Gabby Bailey from Jamaica (herself an Olympic hopeful), as well as an anthropology professor talking up the school’s partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. 

The 30-second clips all finish with the same slate at the end: A white background with the word “begin” splashed in various shades of the school’s signature blue and gold. 

“We wanted to be part of celebrating the coming together of people all across the world and the sharing of culture and community that happens during the Olympics,” university officials said via email. “That global perspective and the importance of community are key parts of who we are as a university.” 

Officials added that they typically advertise during the fall but are putting more emphasis on ads right now in hopes they can “limit our time in the heavy political ad environment that happens closer to the elections.” 

John Carroll University also advertised during the Olympics. This post will be updated to reflect any context university officials provide if they respond to Signal Cleveland’s request for comment.

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