ABOUT

Deliverables: Campaign strategy, video creative, digital design, print design
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The brief
UNSW Accommodation asked us to help them fill student beds which were empty for the first time in years. It was as simple and difficult as that.

An exercise in empathy
Enrolling at university means being uprooted from everything you’ve ever known — friends, family, community, and neighbourhood. So the emotional need for safety, stability, and belonging becomes greater than ever.

This vulnerability means that making the right accommodation choice is essential to feeling secure. But when it’s time to choose, students are left overwhelmed. Without first-hand experience, the differences between all the accommodation choices can be difficult to understand.

Digging deeper
We began with a research program to get an understanding of how students navigated accommodation options. A university-wide survey, interviews with college deans, and focus groups with students gave us a detailed picture of deciding to live at campus accommodation.

The insight
The research revealed an insight that was both obvious and pivotal—the more an individual sees and feels of the university experience, the more affinity they have with it.

While information about facilities and features was plentiful, there was nothing that gave prospective students an authentic window into campus life.

The idea
‘Where we become together’—we wanted to teleport people into the campus experience — no matter where they were in the world.

We chose Instagram as the ‘frame’ for the campaign to give the content a candid feel, filming a collection of montage-style ‘Stories’ that used a mixture of point-of-view and selfie shots.

Enter: Bonnie
The videos told the story of Bonnie, our fresher, arriving at university for the first time. Through the ups and downs of Bonnie’s journey, our audience got an intimate glimpse into campus life—without actually being there. The sponsored Stories were supported by a retargeting campaign to drive people to a custom landing page where they could apply for a room. We also designed fresh print collateral to promote the range of offerings.

The impact
The ‘Where we belong together’ campaign increased conversions by 575%*, generating an expected value of $1.15 million and a return on investment of nearly 2,000%.

* versus the previous year’s campaign created by UNSW’s internal marketing team.