When the marketing team at College of the North Atlantic (CNA) first tossed around the phrase “College is Scary”, no one expected it to become an award-winning mantra. What began as a 20-minute brainstorming session between a few creative minds has now earned CNA a prestigious Silver Leaf Award of Excellence from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Canada.
Not bad for a campaign filmed on a cellphone.
Turning fear into fun
College is scary.
That was the spark behind CNA’s 2024 campaign, College is Scary… CNA is Scary Good – a bold, self-aware twist on the nervous energy most students feel before their first day. The goal? To strip away the glossy, overly produced polish that often dominates higher education marketing and replace it with something raw, real, and relatable.
“New students don’t always know what to expect or where to turn,” says Roger Hulan, CNA’s Director of Marketing & Brand Strategy. “We wanted to help them feel more prepared and less alone. And to do that, we had to speak their language.”
That meant letting go of the traditional marketing playbook and leaning into authenticity. Instead of scripted testimonials or cinematic video shots, CNA handed the microphone, and sometimes the camera, to one of their own: Chidinma Okafor, then a Digital Content Creation student.
A student voice with real power
Chidinma’s work term at CNA began unexpectedly.
“We were asked to take her on a Wednesday, and she started Monday,” laughs her supervisor, Ryan Crocker, Manager of Communications. But that twist of timing proved fateful. Within days, the College is Scary concept was born, and CNA finally launched the long-envisioned Social Media Ambassador program that had been shelved for some time.
Armed with her phone and an infectious personality, Chidinma began capturing ‘A Day in the Life’ content from the student perspective, and interviewing staff – from campus life to personal reflections – all unscripted, unfiltered, and undeniably engaging.
The results were staggering. YouTube Shorts views skyrocketed 651 per cent in less than a year, jumping from just over 1,600 in 2023 to more than 12,000 in 2024. Watch time surged 521 per cent, while subscribers passed the 5,000 mark. CNA’s YouTube channel, once a quiet corner of the internet, suddenly pulsed with student energy.
Authenticity over aesthetics
The campaign’s success wasn’t just online. CNA expanded College is Scary across multiple platforms, featuring it in high school posters across Newfoundland and Labrador, embedding it in the college’s annual Viewbook with a scannable QR code, and spotlighting it in the digital newsletter Currents, where a feature story about Chidinma meeting someone from her Nigerian tribe on her first day drew over 4,000 views – several times the usual traffic.
Even the team’s own approach shifted.
“We realized we didn’t need studio cameras or perfect lighting,” says Samantha Fitzpatrick, Manager of Creative Content. “Our audience doesn’t want perfection, they want connection. Gen Z audiences are drawn to unpolished content, the kind they’d find on TikTok or Instagram Stories, not in a brochure.”
The campaign embraced that aesthetic wholeheartedly, proving that authenticity could outshine any high-budget production.
“This campaign was such a labour of love,” says Samantha Fitzpatrick, Manager of Creative Content. “Our team of graphic artists spent countless hours editing and designing, from video to large-scale ads. Their creativity and commitment are what made this campaign shine.”
From brainstorm to Silver Leaf
When CNA submitted College is Scary… CNA is Scary Good for the IABC Newfoundland and Labrador Awards in June, the team was proud to take home an Award of Excellence at the provincial level.
In a fitting full-circle moment, Chidinma herself attended the provincial awards gala and accepted the trophy on behalf of the college.
“She earned it,” Hulan says proudly.
But the recognition doesn’t stop there. IABC Canada awarded CNA the national Silver Leaf Award of Excellence, one of the highest honours in the country for professional communicators.
“It was a wonderful moment,” says Heidi Staeben-Simmons, Associate Vice President of Public Affairs & Advancement. “To think that something that started with a last-minute student placement and a quick brainstorming session ended up being recognized nationally, is a true testament to the talented team we’ve built – it’s incredible and I’m so proud of our team at CNA.”
‘Scary Good’ results
The campaign concluded in September 2025, and the results are in. With over 22,000 short-form videoviews on YouTube and nearly 200 hours of watch time, CNA’s social media continues to grow. The Instagram profile, which has just over 5,000 followers, saw nearly 90,000 video views over the course of the campaign. The college’s Official Facebook page, which has 30,000 fans, saw over half a million video views.
For an institution that spans 17 campuses across Newfoundland and Labrador, reaching 7,000 students annually in over 110 full-time programs, the impact of a single authentic voice was remarkable.
The Lesson: Be fearlessly real
The College is Scary campaign isn’t just a success story in metrics and medals – it’s a case study in trying new things. CNA’s willingness to embrace imperfection, to hand the camera to a student, and to trust authenticity over polish, struck a chord with audiences far beyond its campuses.
Because yes, college can be Scary. But as CNA proved, it can also be Scary Good.
