Duracell ad gives Lakes college powerful boost
Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently traveled to Estherville to conduct its own interviews for a story on the college's wind energy technician program.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- June 26, 2010
Originally published in the Sioux City Journal
Reported by Dave Dreeszen
Six months after it first aired, Iowa Lakes Community College continues to bask in the glow of a Duracell battery TV commercial that spotlighted the school's wind energy program.
"It's been an absolutely wonderful thing for Iowa Lakes Community College and all of Northwest Iowa," college president Valerie Newhouse said in an interview last week. "The calls we've gotten, the people stopping in, the posts on Facebook."
The commercial has raised the national profile of the Okoboji area college, which has received calls from as far away as Canada, Mexico and Great Britain.
In addition to national TV networks, the spot has been shown in movie theatres across the country and viewed on various Internet sites. As of last week, it had been viewed on YouTube more than 15,000 times.
As a direct result of the added publicity, Newhouse said 70 people have applied for the college's Wind Energy and Turbine Technology program, Newhouse said. The increased interest is expected to push enrollment in the six-year-old program to record levels this fall, she said.
The college caps freshman enrollment in the nationally-recognized program at 102. About 60 more students are expected to return this fall for a second year of study, bringing the projected enrollment to around 165, she said.
College officials also believe the recognition given to the region also will help attract new wind energy industries, as well as other firms looking to expand or relocate.
The commercial, quietly filmed last September in parts of northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota, is part of Duracell's "SmartPower" initiative for its newest rechargeable battery.
The spot begins with young girl and her family riding in a car traveling through a rural area surrounded by crops. As she uses a small battery-powered fan to stay cool, her attention is diverted to a wind farm.
The commercial goes on to highlight the role Duracell recharageable batteries play in training the Iowa Lakes students to maintain turbines and keep them running at peak performance.
The original 30-second commercial debuted after New Year's Eve. A shorter version has been airing in recent weeks. Newhouse said Duracell has not told the college how much longer the commercial will run.
"We know we're nearing the end," she said.
Of the commercial itself, not the benefits it's brought to the college and region.
BREAKOUT
The Duracell battery commercial has helped generate additional publicity for Iowa Lakes Commercial College.
Bismarck, N.D.-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently traveled to Estherville to conduct its own interviews for a story on the college's wind energy technician program.
Basin Electric, one of the nation's largest electric generation and transmission cooperatives, featured a story that tied in the assistance the college received from Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative in the form of a no-interest grant for additional classroom space.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Des Moines wrote an article about the college's wind energy program, which was featured in Wallace's Farmer magazine.
The college received a free, full-page advertisement in Electrical Apparatus magazine.
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