Award-Profitable Video Storytelling Classes | Content material Advertising and marketing Institute

Few shared experiences possess the emotional resonance and common relatability because the one embodied by this query: “What do you wish to be while you develop up?”

It served as a tentpole for Purdue College’s scholar recruitment advertising by way of a video that illustrates one bold particular person’s imaginative and prescient of their journey – with Purdue enjoying a pivotal position at each step.

The video achieved notable success towards the establishment’s advertising targets. It additionally gained the 2023 Content Marketing Award for Best Motivational Video/Video series and was named a Project of the Year finalist.

What do you want to be when you grow up? The ubiquitous question inspired @LifeAtPurdue to create an award-winning video via @Joderama @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Let’s discover the imaginative and prescient behind this visible content material hit and the way it contributed to spectacular advertising outcomes for the model.  

What Can You Think about at Purdue?

The video – What Can You Think about at Purdue? – captures the essence of the college’s message: “The one obstacles to what you possibly can obtain needs to be the bounds of your creativeness.”

Within the video, a younger Black woman wonders aloud about what she’s going to do when she grows up. As her father braids her hair, he replies, “No matter you possibly can think about.” Then, he covers her eyes and asks what she sees for her life.

Viewers glimpse her desired future and all of the milestones she’ll attain alongside the best way. The visuals and voiceover relate to the story of her goals of constructing robots at Purdue Polytechnic Excessive College, going to Purdue College, and exploring her passions by way of extracurricular actions and on-campus communities.

She relates her imaginative and prescient to that of her father, who’s incomes his diploma at Purdue World (the establishment’s on-line college for working adults). On the finish of the video, this proud father asks his daughter what she’ll do from there. Her reply: “No matter I would like.”

4 classes on video content material advertising success

Purdue’s video storytelling teaches essential classes – ones your model can comply with on its path to advertising success.

Align content material with core model values

In an interview with the Content material Advertising and marketing Institute, R. Ethan Braden, Purdue’s govt vp and chief advertising and communications officer, says his staff crafted the story round core tenets of Purdue’s model essence – ‘persistent innovation collectively’.

• Persistent: The central character works on a difficult undertaking in a Purdue classroom. Her father asks what she’ll do if she doesn’t succeed at first. Her reply: “I’ll attempt once more, and once more, and once more …” That message is bolstered as viewers see her troubleshoot her experiment and, finally, make a breakthrough.
• Innovation: The woman mentions profession potentialities in rocket science and pc science. That emphasizes Purdue’s curricula in these fields of examine whereas modeling accessible alternatives for girls who wish to pursue profession schooling in science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic.
• Collectively: Purdue sees success as achieved by way of collaborative – not aggressive – efforts. This idea is bolstered by way of the woman’s imaginative and prescient of assembly different college students on campus, making recollections with pals, and having fun with time along with her friends within the Purdue scholar group.

@LifeAtPurdue crafted its No. 1 video message around the brand’s core tenets – persistent innovation together, says @REthanBraden via @Joderama @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

A clip displaying the woman’s father logging into a web based portal to obtain his assignments as a scholar at Purdue World connects the story to the model’s dedication to creating larger schooling accessible to all, together with adults furthering their schooling whereas remaining within the workforce.

Purdue’s video neatly communicates how choices like Purdue World make larger schooling extra universally attainable, no matter their stage of life, financial circumstances, or scheduling wants.

It’s additionally value noting that the video incorporates a Black household, given the systemic disadvantages skilled by folks of coloration which will have an effect on their imaginative and prescient of school. “We needed to inform that story with asset framing, by way of that lens of just a little African American woman and her father, and we needed to essentially get it proper,” Ethan says.

Enchant your viewers with emotive storytelling

Ethan says enchanting Purdue’s goal audiences is his staff’s sole purpose for content material creation. “It’s to evoke them and appeal to their ecstatic admiration and demand for Purdue, no matter which means in that second.”

The video achieves this with its relatable theme of dreaming of the long run. Emotive experiences reinforce that message – a father serving to his daughter put together for college and a scholar exploring her passions and constructing friendships.  

Ethan notes these particulars impressed viewers to remark: “You understand when he’s braiding her hair? I teared up as a result of that was genuine,” and “I’ve by no means heard of Purdue earlier than, and now I wanna go there.”

This proof signifies his staff hit on the suitable feelings and insights to broaden viewers consciousness, curiosity, and consideration of Purdue.

By way of a terrific product and content material efforts like this, Ethan says Purdue has seen a 30% improve in its scholar physique over 10 years, and purposes have doubled within the final 5 years.

Applications to @LifeAtPurdue doubled in the last five years thanks in part to its inspiring and motivational #ContentMarketing, says @REthanBraden via @Joderama @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

Present how your experiences join

Manufacturers want a transparent content material advertising technique to information their prospects by way of all of the levels of their purchaser’s journey. Purdue’s video takes viewers by way of an aspiring scholar’s private journey – one which highlights the Purdue portfolio of choices and the establishment’s varied pre-college, on-line, and extracurricular choices.

The Purdue staff intentionally emphasised how its experiences join underneath a broad portfolio of instructional merchandise. Ethan says this distinguishes Purdue’s content material from commonplace college advertising specializing in a single establishment.

“We needed you to see her go to highschool. We needed you to see her purpose for Purdue,” Ethan says. “We needed you to see her father going to Purdue World and attaining his diploma as a working grownup, and the way these [experiences] stitched collectively [as part of the] Purdue portfolio.”

Develop attain with multiplatform distribution

In keeping with Purdue, the video earned greater than 28 million views on YouTube, with an astounding 82% view price. In simply 28 days, it grew to become the most-viewed video on the Purdue YouTube channel, besting a video that had earned views for over 15 years.

These are spectacular outcomes for any video asset, not to mention a two-minute advert. However Purdue didn’t depend on natural attain alone. The advert gained a giant promotional increase in important visibility moments just like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Large 10 championship soccer recreation, and the Citrus Bowl.

Ethan says the marketing campaign additionally concerned posts on social media (the place it earned 170,000 views and greater than 670,000 impressions) and was promoted by way of award entries, together with the Content material Advertising and marketing Awards.  

The staff additionally invests in socializing its content material internally to make sure their organizational stakeholders perceive and admire the worth of content material. “We prioritize advertising the advertising so others can see the excellence and experience of this staff and their contributions,” says Ethan, which provides them the buy-in they should do their jobs to the very best of their talents.

See elevated video success in your model’s future

Purdue’s video advert captured and stored its target market’s consideration. It additionally ensured extra viewers would see the breadth of what Purdue has to supply. So, what can your movies be after they develop up? Let Purdue’s 4 classes enable you manifest that imaginative and prescient.

MORE EXAMPLES FROM 2023 PROJECT OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute