My portfolio includes 6 content pieces that will share the RMIT University student experience and showcase the NAS precinct for the purpose of marketing to VCE Students.
selling the experience @RMIT
Narrative
For Year 12 students VCE is an all-encompassing presence, so it is a challenge to break through that sole focus mentality and get them to start thinking about their future and university choices. However, VTAC applications and Open Days in September act as triggering events to change this. Of course RMIT is not the only university using significant resources to promote to Year 12s-- Melbourne, Swinburne, Monash, Deakin etc are all ready and waiting with their own communication strategies. How does RMIT break through the noise?
This question was tackled by considering how VCE students make university choices, specifically those who know what career they want, but are searching for more information to decide which uni they want to preference. Many would look at which courses are better known in their chosen field, but there is another aspect of uni that can be used in RMIT’s arsenal-- student experience.
Each university provides a unique student experience and in many cases this influences retention of first year students. VCE students only consider what uni will be like AFTER Year 12, when they are about to start first year, but if we could get them imagining themselves at RMIT DURING Open Day, RMIT has the upper hand. That is where NAS comes in. The angle I am taking is that NAS is all about enhancing the student experience through providing access to collaborative learning and social spaces, and I want to communicate this through my content portfolio.
my intentions
My intention for this portfolio is to capture and share the university student experience for VCE students through a variety of written and audio visual content that encourages them to imagine themselves at RMIT and therefore consider preferencing the university in their VTAC applications. Not all the pieces focus on presenting university life but they link together through their aim to promote RMIT to prospective students.
Through looking back at my own experience as a VCE student, I was able to tailor content and key messages so that they tapped into their mindset, making the pieces relatable and therefore the ideas more salient. Salience is an essential component of effective communication, as if the ideas can be accessed quickly then this can influence attitude formation and potentially have an impact on decision making (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007,p.11). Therefore, I intend my portfolio to prime VCE students to factor in student experience when considering unversity preferences.
The six portfolio pieces were chosen, planned and designed, not only for their conceptual quality, but also their capacity to reach the target public, allowing content to be accessible and timely. For example, the photograph story are for printing onto large scale posters around RMIT city campus during Open Day 2017 and the blog posts displayed on iPads in the new Media Precinct to attract attention. The blog articles are also suited for publication on the student news website Hijacked.com.au that publish similar articles and so could reach students through their Facebook news feed. Additionally, the feature article takes a different direction, gearing instead toward parents and other adults in students' sphere of influence, informing them about NAS student initiatives in order to engender positive perception. Therefore, the article harnasses the power of these relationships, acknowledging the influence they have on students' decision making (Berger & Reber, 2006, p.4).
The blog, radio interview and photo story aim to provide insight into the university experience, thereby positioning students to picture their life after VCE, without touching on course information or career related factors that are often primary to making university choices. The pieces are honest about what students can expect, as opposed to presenting university life through a rose coloured lens, which could have potentially undermined its authenticity. The realistic voice that comes through, especially in the blog articles and radio interview, therefore allows for a degree of trust, an important characteristic of influence (Breakenridge, 2012, p.136). I also tried to maintain some level of humour, even if sarcastic or self deprecating, so to not lean towards hopeless negativity, instead make light of the stress of university life.
The photo story, video and feature article are more promotional, designed to sell the RMIT student experience specifically. The feature article focuses on the NAS student initiatives that provide opportunities for work integrated learning and the video captures both the high quality and variety of facilities at RMIT as well as the student pride and belonging to these spaces.
The social media release and video link to NAS more explicitly, making the connection between the new facilities and an enhanced student experience. So while the portfolio is created in order to promote RMIT University, it was important that the NAS project remain a central focus. Therefore, the content portfolio addresses both whilst maintaining a unified concept. This was achieved through my approach to planning, in which I developed the concept before choosing and creating content, which ensured clear ideas and messages. So as a public relations professional, I add value through my creative as well as strategic thinking.
