Unit 3, Post 2: Built in Resources
We must find ways to use the opportunities that we already have in addition to creating new opportunities. I work with a team to grow the giving at our school. We were looking for opportunities to tell our community about the need and why they should give. Rather than creating tons of new events we saw that we already had built in events that were centered around other topics but allowed us the opportunity to interject this new information. This could mean a person speaking, having print material available, etc. We used our resources of pre-scheduled events in addition to new specific events to communicate the information.
We translate that into communications and design. When/where do we have “built in” opportunities where it’s natural to communicate or market to a community? This year our school decided to create a campaign around Christmas. There was no give or action other than touching our community and creating a warm fuzzy. It got rave reviews and spread like wildfire. This created good will within our community. Come to find out digital greeting cards during the holiday season is a common practice with schools. Here are several examples of greeting cards from 2012. Ours wasn’t as elaborate as some of these but it’s a good opportunity for a touch. Enjoy!
http://www.higher-education-marketing.com/blog/favourite-2012-higher-ed-holiday
There are a few schools in this list of videos, like Mohawk College, who uses solely graphics but I think people want to see other people – their students, friends, teachers, etc. I would recommend thinking about your audience and what they want to see.