North Central Missouri College’s name and logo will become familiar to hot rod racing fans at the Eddyville Drag Strip in Eddyville, IA as it’s painted on the hood of a car owned and raced by Trenton resident Cody McCollum.
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NCMC Marketing Coordinator Gina Graham, along with NCMC faculty member Scott Keith, arranged for the advertisement.
“Our advertising dollars are limited; we can’t afford television ads so we are always looking for inexpensive ways to get our name in front of the public,” Mrs. Graham said.
NCMC serves both traditional college students straight out of high school and non-traditional students seeking new skills and a career change as well as providing non-credit life enhancing courses – this varied audience lends itself to different marketing methods.
The college uses traditional marketing via radio and newspapers ads and advertises on billboards, movie theaters and magazines. In addition, NCMC has sponsored various community events throughout its 16 county area including contest days, college fairs, High School Holiday Hoops and other sporting events. The college has also ventured into social media such as Facebook and Twitter, according to Karla McCollum, Associate Director of Admissions.
“Our Student Ambassadors have a Facebook site which enables them to communicate with students about upcoming events and share general college information,” Mrs. McCollum said. “They also use Twitter and are able to ‘friend’ prospective students to develop a connection with them before they actually become NCMC students, building their confidence that NCMC will treat them as a person, not a number.”
This is the first time, however, the college has used such a non-traditional advertising method as an NHRA hot rod.
The hot rod funny car was built by Cody McCollum, Grand River Technical School auto body assistant instructor. NCMC maintains partnerships with Grand River Technical School for various technical training and education programs. NCMC’s Applied Technology/1+1 degree allows students to earn college credit for certain programs, preparing students for the workplace and offers them the opportunity to continue with their post-secondary education and skill training.
The McCollum name is a familiar one in the National Hot Rod Racing Association (NHRA) as Cody and his father Larry have been involved in racing for a long time. Cody’s car, named the Pedestrian III, is an orange 1952 Crosley Dragster. It is certified to run a high speeds on all NHRA tracks. Eddyville, about 120 miles northeast of Trenton, will be its home track.
Mrs. Graham hopes this new advertisement will reach patrons who weren’t previously aware of North Central Missouri College.
“Community colleges, and NCMC in particular, are very interested in serving the educational and training needs of ALL area citizens, whether they might enroll in general education classes or technical/skills training classes,” Mrs. Graham said.