MUNCIE, Ind. -- A series of five television commercials promoting Ball State University to high school students and their parents begins Oct. 2 in major markets around the state.

The "Everything You Need" campaign will be seen by viewers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend/Elkhart, and northwest Indiana markets on many CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WB, UPN affiliates and several cable outlets. The commercials will air more than 3,200 times over six weeks in those markets.

Over the next month radio commercials and interstate billboards will also appear throughout the state.

The campaign focuses on what students "need" in a college, and how Ball State can meet those needs with its small classes, technology-based education, nationally ranked programs and talented faculty.

The messages used in the advertising campaign are based on marketing research conducted with high school students and college freshmen, said Don Park, vice president for university advancement.

"The students told us what they wanted a college to provide," Park said. "From that research we developed a clearer understanding of what was important to the students while they were in college and then after graduation."

The first "Everything You Need" campaign was conducted in the fall of 1998 as part of a major admissions and marketing initiative. Each year the advertising formats have been refined based on market research, Park said.

Ball State alumni play a major role in all aspects of the campaign.

Ron Pearson, president of Pearson, Crahan, Fletcher, England, an Indianapolis advertising agency, created the campaign. Chelsea Wilson, another Ball State graduate, is the agency's senior account executive assigned to the Ball State project.

Other alumni involved in the campaign include Rick Thomson, chief cinematographer and president of RichmarC Productions; Troye Kinnett of Caboose Productions, writer and producer of the original music for the radio and television commercials; and Fred Stark, a nationally renown jingle writer/singer, who provided vocals. More than $1 million in private support was provided by the Ball State University Foundation to fund the campaign.

By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, Park may be reached by e-mail at dpark@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-1633.)