Improving Student Admissions - Let’s get down to Business
Location: UK
Industry: Education
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Client & Product
Oxford Brookes Business School approached us to create a set of videos to help create interest in their research degrees programmes. Like many others, the school had felt the strain of the pandemic on their admission numbers and felt that marketing the courses and culture they had would help to combat this. Therefore, we were hired to produce videos that would be used on web, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram to generate interest and engagement.
Challenges
There were two main challenges to answering the brief. The most predominant one was understanding the audience and what content they would engage with. This was due to the different types of course we would be marketing for the School; some were for professionals who were studying and working, whilst others were for students looking to further their research after their Masters. The other challenge we faced was filming with students who rarely actually came in to the campus. Due to the nature of the current work-study climate, many students were remote and so working to the schedule of their availability proved a challenge.
Job Done
After careful consultation with the client we agreed to produce content that was led by student experience which would then be used to produce 12 videos; 4 x 2 minute pieces and 8 x 30 second pieces. In order to create this we filmed on location for 2 days, interviewing 16 active students, 1 day remotely filming interviews with 4 students, and editing for 6 days.
Implemented Features
Planning and Pre-Production
As mentioned, we faced the challenge of remote students availability to film on campus. Therefore it was key that we worked closely with the client to create a schedule which included both the perspective of the whole project and individual tasks and goals. As a result, we produced multiple Gantt charts to help make sure that we were on the same page.
On the Day
It was important that the interviewees felt comfortable and able to open up about their experiences. To achieve this we did two main things. Firstly, we booked out one location to film the interviews, emailing out the range of available time slots that the students could choose from so that they did not feel stressed with time pressures. Secondly, the interview style was very open and we spoke with each contributor informally without the cameras rolling and (most importantly) within the filming space before getting into the interview questions.
Video Creation
It was important to the client that the videos felt uniformed, professional and coherent. To achieve this we ensured that our colour science, frame rates and stylistic choices were consistent throughout both production days. Although filming in one location made this simpler, it was important to the client that the interviews could cut together seamlessly without jarring visual variation in style.
Distribution
The plan from the beginning of the project was for these videos to work on social media platforms. The Business School predominantly favoured LinkedIn for this, however, they wanted the content to work on TikTok and Instagram stories should they wish to distribute on these platforms in the future. As a result, all videos were exported in multiple codecs and aspect ratios which allowed the client ultimate flexibility.
Outcome
Ultimately the impact of this project is yet to be seen as the newest cycle of admission for new students is still to happen, however, from a perspective of the brief that was provided to us and the positive feedback we received from the client post-project, we are content that this was a successful project.
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