Teachers/researchers get real about recruiting talented students in a virtual landscape.

 Get ready for a #humblebrag, y’all. I’m lucky enough to partner with King Productions on some pretty fun projects. It’s right smack dab in the middle of my “zone of genius.” I love to unbox a brand via some intense team workshopping and packaging-it-up-pretty for strategic planning and marketing mixin’.

Paul does things the right way. He wants his clients to have a clear direction and tangible goals.

What’s more, he wants crystal clear messaging for storyboarding and scripting. Before he shows up with a camera crew and all the fixins, he guides his clients through intensive strategic planning.

In this case, the Scalia Law Admissions Department at George Mason University had come to him in need of a Virtual Tour video.

The challenge: bring Student Life to life in 2020 with video storytelling and branded content.

Nothing could ever stand in for the experience of a freshly scrubbed prospective student traipsing around the campus with one of their earnest tour guides, of course, but COVID meant virtual, no exceptions.

The Admissions Department put together a plan of attack to showcase the campus and programs. Affordable, accessible, and a real-career builder, Scalia Law had a lot to offer someone seeking to apply their JD in a myriad of ways.

But how to give it heart and soul in an online experience? More importantly, how can we inspire the call to action: apply?

The answer, of course (and with transparent self-interest, of course), was in razor-sharp messaging and brand strategy. And this is where I come in.

Enter Rebecca. (That’s me.)

We came to the collaboration via ZOOM, and for 90-minutes we hammered out a positioning statement. No one on the team had trouble articulating the many things there are to love about Scalia Law School, but the struggle was real when it came to attracting a good number of healthy applicants.

The team came to the table with a collaborative mindset and we worked as a group to perfect each aspect of a cohesive, compelling — and completely true — positioning statement.

We also identified marketing “buckets,” the three-legged stool of our storytelling strategy: The art: of becoming a lawyer (i.e., launching a great career); The experience: A plethora of opportunities and options (make it exceptional); The sense of place: Access to DC, a lawyer’s town, an urban center, chock full of intellectual property, heated debate, and getting things done.

Noooooow, we know what to talk about, and to whom. Let’s break it down:

•  [FOR] future lawyers ;-) Set a tone of voice that invites students seeking a professional education to the coolest club you know: lawyers. Law school trains your brain; immerse your audience in the language and culture of this unique occupation.
•  [WHO NEED] a tight-knit community, real-world experiences, and access to forward-thinking mentors. Show them a thriving, multi-faceted community of students from every walk of life and every world view, in pursuit of the educational foundation and connections they need to launch a great career at Scalia Law. Highlight access to faculty, practical labs, and internships.
•  [SCALIA LAW IS THE] Virginia state law school in the heart of the DMV (the epicenter center of government, law, policy, and technology. Make DC/NoVa key players in your narrative. What kind of options and opportunities would one have by being so close to DC? Affordable state school tuition stands alone amongst private school colleagues like Georgetown, GW, and Howard.
•  [THAT DELIVERS] the educational foundation, the opportunities, and the options to launch a dynamic career. Show me resources. Tell me success stories. Let me project myself into future internships and teaching opportunities. Let me be a fly on the wall at Courtroom Lab or Bar Prep. Help me to learn the Art of Becoming a Lawyer.
•  [BECAUSE] you only go to law school once… make it a top-tier, value-driven, exceptional experience. Enter FOMO. You only go to law school once. This is one of the most critical times in your professional development, why leave it up to chance?

 Noooowwwww, we have a content plan.

Storyboards, scripts, and stakes:

Future lawyers,
meet the Antonin Scalia Law School - George Mason University.

Once we had a positioning statement and the three marketing “buckets,” we could get down to business. The team was chomping at the bit to get to the actual video production and were anxious to see a storyboard, a script, and a shoot date on the calendar.

#sidebar Hip-Hip-Hurray for effective teaming.
We have the nimble ability to get things done in short order.

Armed with our positioning statement, brand strategy, and talking points PLUS the location list, I set out to create the storyboard and the script.

To storyboard the flow of the video, apply the Elements of Storytelling. You need to meet the hero (Student Life at Scalia Law), understand their need/goal (onboard great students), get invested in what’s at stake (the quality of your law school experience), overcome obstacles (learn how to be a lawyer, feel at home, get valuable experiences), undergo a transformation (be part of a great culture), and live life as a changed wo/man (launch a dynamic career.)

#teachablemoment ID the talking points come directly from the Positioning Statement and Messaging “buckets.” See how many you can find.

Now that we had a structure, we needed a script. Words and ideas pulled directly from the Positioning Statement and Messaging “Buckets” are highlighted.

By defining goals on Day 1 (get great applicants) and answering the key questions (who are my people? what do they need? who am I? what do I deliver? why am I different/special/The One)

... the marketing nearly writes itself.

Paul has a practical side to him. For this reason, he posed a question on social media. “If you’ve been on a virtual tour for college, what did you love/not love?” He got many thoughtful responses, many of which validated the brand strategy borne out of deep workshopping and collaborating with the client.

“Create something in which the prospective student could easily envision themself participating in student life at Scalia Law, living their best life and getting both the once-in-a-lifetime student experiences and the educational foundation to launch a great career without going into crippling debt or depleting the family coffers.”

Now, Scalia Law can confidently bake a clear, concise content plan into the foundation of its marketing mix and the application numbers to prove it.

Show me the Deliverables!

What were the results of this fine work? Well, take a look-see for yourself.

👀 Virtual Tour for Admissions

 Hear Paul’s “First Take” V/O

See the Storyboard/Script for yourself.

🥹 See the testimonial from Paul King, King Productions

Exit through the gift shop:

 If you’re seeking to forge the kind of relationships with your people that flow like an endless mountain spring of that sweet, sweet, brand loyalty, reach out to King Productions. 

⚖️ Love the idea of DC-living in a small town, learning incredible things in a collaborative environment from a diverse group of thinkers, researchers, and doers? Check out George Mason University. “Half” the price; twice the opportunities. 

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