Penn College-produced TV commercial earns coveted CUPPIE Award

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A TV commercial produced by Public Relations & Marketing at Pennsylvania College of Technology was honored in the 2017 CUPPIE Awards sponsored by CUPRAP, the College and University Public Relations and Associated Professionals.

The 30-second spot, which aired as part of the college’s statewide branding campaign, earned a Silver CUPPIE in the “Advertising In-House TV” category. The award was presented March 9 at CUPRAP’s annual spring conference in Hershey.

The award-winning commercial — titled “What If You Could Change the World?” — featured a unique approach. Rather than touting the college’s impressive placement rate and related statistics and presenting a host of conventional images — mirroring video produced by many other institutions of higher education — the spot stirs emotions by challenging prospective students to change the world through a Penn College education.

Compelling video of an assortment of the college’s 100-plus “degrees that work,” as well as the determined delivery of the student narrator — Stephanie M. Puckly, of Spartansburg, a welding and fabrication engineering technology major — demonstrate the challenge can be met.

The commercial was conceived and developed by Carlos Ramos, director of strategic marketing, and Thomas F. Speicher, writer/video editor. Speicher shot and edited the video, which aired around the state in various Comcast cable TV zones, on WVIA Public Media, on Penn State Sports Properties’ “Unrivaled” highlight programs for football and basketball, and on WGAL-TV in the Lancaster/York/Harrisburg market for NFL Thursday Night Football telecasts.

“We wanted to develop a TV commercial for the branding campaign that did not resemble those produced by so many other colleges and universities,” said Joseph S. Yoder, associate vice president for public relations and marketing. “We believe Penn College’s points of distinction — including hands-on majors in high-demand career fields, business and industry connections, and impressive graduate-placement rates — called for a novel approach. Tom and Carlos delivered, as evidenced by this honor from a respected organization of our peers.”­

The commercial, as well as other videos produced by Penn College, can be viewed on the college’s YouTube Channel, youtube.com/PennCollegeVideos.

For the 2017 CUPPIES, 385 entries were received from colleges, universities and providers of private, specialized and secondary education in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Serving as judges were communications experts including designers, writers, educators, corporate executives and media professionals.

Founded in 1980, CUPRAP has nearly 350 members representing 100 institutions. Its members work in public relations, media relations, marketing, publications, sports information, web and graphic design and more.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.