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Last updated 7:41 am CT February 09, 2010.
SIU Students Promote the University
By: Jackie McPherson
CARBONDALE--
Some SIU students hope they can help reverse the university's dwindling enrollment.
They've created a marketing team dedicated to promoting the school's unique offerings.
The essence of the ads is what SIU has to offer on the campus and beyond.
"Since we're on campus everyday, we see the different side of it most people don't see" says Megan Harris. Harris is one of the eight students who comprise 'Barking Dawg Productions,' a nod to being a Saluki.
For the last two years, Harris and her teammates have been working on the ads, bringing a unique perspective to promoting the university.
"It's an in-house ad agency" says Barking Dawg Productions director Terry Clark.
Clark says producing the spots didn't cost much, since the team already had the equipment in-house.
"We have woken up and realized we need to address things like image because of our enrollment problems."
"We've lost 1500 kids in less than 5 years" says SIU President Glenn Poshard.
Poshard says he's seen the ads, and believes they're better than any expensive ad agency could produce, because they were made by a team of recruiters who know SIU's assets first-hand.
"Who better than our students to know what it would be that attracts other students to this campus?"
Right now, you can see the Barking Dog ad on the SIU website. The students say they're also working on some new SIU related projects to put on sites like You-Tube.
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