A creative collaboration between two 乐播传媒 College offices has struck gold with an award-winning video series that sheds light on the college search, application, and financial aid process with wit, warmth, and candor.
Created for the 2019鈥�20 admission cycle, 乐播传媒鈥� Ask the (College) Experts recently from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the preeminent organization for higher education communications and advancement professionals.
The video series, produced by 乐播传媒 staff and featuring staff and faculty, won its award in CASE鈥檚 annual 鈥淐ircle of Excellence鈥� recognition program in a Communications category.
The collaboration between the college鈥檚 Admission and Communications offices sought to creatively address a perennial challenge: how to give myriad audiences concise, accurate, and understandable information about 乐播传媒, the liberal arts, and the admission and financial aid application process itself.
鈥淥ur audiences crave and deserve straightforward answers to common yet complex questions,鈥� said Leigh Weisenburger, dean of admission and financial aid at 乐播传媒. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always developing ways to provide prospective students and families with just that: accurate, concise, and direct information.
鈥淭his project gave us the opportunity to make this information widely available, authentically answering a clear need in a way that just might lower some stress while increasing awareness of, and trust in, 乐播传媒.鈥�
Featuring college faculty and staff from Admission, Student Financial Services, and Purposeful Work, cover both the basics, such as 鈥淲here Do I Start?鈥� and 鈥淲hat Does 鈥楲iberal Arts鈥� Mean?鈥� and specifics, such as 鈥淲hat Should I Know About Financial Aid?鈥� The series also offers career-exploration insights through the lens of the college鈥檚 nationally recognized Purposeful Work program.
鈥淲ow!鈥� the CASE judges noted. 鈥淭his entry is so impressive. We really liked how user-friendly and bite-sized the content is. Excellent use of staff expertise and spot-on about the audience’s needs. The videos are both entertaining and informative, and just the perfect length.鈥�
The video series was designed to help prospective students and families, as well as secondary-school counselors.
The CASE judges noted that the series 鈥渃learly hit a (good) nerve with students and guidance counselors.鈥� Indeed, engagement metrics indicate that various online audiences found value in the content.
Distributed through myriad channels (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and email), the videos attracted more than 850,000 views of at least 10 seconds, which is a standard measure of whether a video is 鈥渟een.鈥� That viewership is more than double the total number of 10-second views of all Admission videos over the prior three years. One prospective-parent segment of the audience was particularly engaged: Eight out of 10 who watched at least 25 percent of a video stayed for the entire piece.
鈥淭hese results indicate measurable engagement on an unprecedented, massive scale for 乐播传媒,鈥� said Sean Findlen 鈥�99, chief communications officer. 鈥淚t is likely that many of the students who ultimately applied to 乐播传媒 did view one or more Ask 惫颈诲别辞蝉.鈥�
The format will lend itself well to other communications challenges, for both Admission audiences and other key constituencies, Findlen said. 鈥淚f we use these tools to help explain and instill confidence in 乐播传媒, we鈥檝e done our job.鈥�
