Simon Fraser University – Influencer Campaign

Promote a Sustaining Message of Innovation

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Simon Fraser University (SFU) routinely published press releases to promote their role in leading regional innovation and highlighting the impact they make around the world. Individual press releases, published alongside all university news, made it difficult to direct the universities mission and message to key constituents.

SFU partnered with Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG) and PR Agency WE Communications to form a centralize content hub and outreach campaign to knit together SFU’s innovative agenda. A singular experience would influence graduate student recruitment, germinate interest in public-private partnerships, and support efforts to seek venture capital and government funding.

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My Contribution

  • Stakeholder workshop design and facilitation

  • Crafted content strategy deliverables

  • Designed the content hub user experience

  • Provided university intranet cross-linking strategy to drive traffic to the content hub

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Outcomes

Target Audience Definition – Provided personas illustrating audience needs and relevant content topics to compel interest in SFU’s mission.

Content Strategy – Index of university stories aligned to target audiences interests.

Content Hub Design – Site structure, user experience design, and complete design of the content hub website.

Campaign Advertising – Campaign strategy, headline development, and art direction for print, web, and social media ads to promote and drive traffic to the content hub.

Content Strategy

I led a stakeholder workshop in partnership with GLG’s director of marketing strategy, and PR firm WE Communications to align on the goals and requirements for the content hub, and how it could function as a digital destination for all innovation and entrepreneurship content. Workshop activities included sharing inspiration of comparable accelerator programs, exploring the needs of target audiences, and brainstorming content themes and topics to resonated with their interests.

Stakeholder Workshop

Participants reviewed SFU’s mission, brand, a prior out-bound communications.

Educational Materials

Provided educational information about content strategy, storytelling techniques, digital content formats, and distribution channels to educate SFU stakeholders on the variety of possibilities to promote their innovation message.

Inspiration

Reviewed comparable/competitor content hub experiences highlighting best-in-class examples.

Personas & Content Ideas

I led workshop participants in a review of the target audience personas I developed and facilitated a discussion to expand our understanding of their goals and needs, and relationship with SFU. Working in small groups, participants brainstormed content ideas and storylines that would potentially appeal to each personas unique interests.

Content Index

Content and storyline ideas were clustered by persona and organized into themes. The clusters were shared with GLG’s advertising team go support headline and design development.

Value Exchange Map

Based on findings from our workshop, I created an value exchange map illustrating the audiences’ relationships and interactions with SFU entrepreneur and innovation programs. Based on my analysis, several website properties could serve as a visitors’ entry point, making it necessary to develop a cross-linking strategy to direct visitors from universities website properties to the content hub.

User Experience Design

Site Map & Global Navigation

I designed a persona-driven site structure with audience landing pages, campaign landing page, and story and events pages for cross-linking to improve site SEO.

Wireframe Design & Content Blocks

I designed wireframes for all page templates and reusable content blocks to bring consistency when highlighting program partners, achievements, student leaders, and calls-to-action for site visitors to join SFU’s mission by following on social media or signing up to receive email updates.

Final Design & Promotion Strategy

Final Design

GLG’s creative team created the final interface designs and corresponding advertising campaign utilizing SFU’s brand guidelines.

Domain Cross-Linking

SFU manages multiple website domains making it difficult for site visitors to find the SFU Innovates content hub without the support of a direct link through advertising. I performed a site audit of SFU’s existing domains and identified opportunities to include cross-linking and merchandizing tiles to drive traffic to the content hub.

  • Sharing Examples Improved Collaboration – Prior to asking stakeholder to participate in workshop activities, I provided a briefing on content marketing best practices and shared comparable examples of website initiatives from other universities and corporations. Doing this aided our stakeholder’s ability to brainstorm more creatively and generate digital engagement ideas beyond traditional press releases.

  • Personas to Represent Audiences – Upon reflection, I wished I had not incorporated photography to represent various audience groups. I inaccurately portrayed race, gender, and age, and potentially reinforced negative audience stereotypes. Next time, I plan to use illustrations or multiple images to project representation and inclusion.

  • Content Strategy: a shared UX and PR practice – User experience and public relations teams share the practice of content strategy. Both practices target content through the use of personas. Both practices benefit from strategy deliverables like ecosystem diagrams and creative briefs to align cross-functional teams around a common vision of an overall experience.

  • Metrics Development – If I were to re-run this project, I would including activities and deliverables to benchmark the current experience and define an updated metrics strategy. By providing SFU tools to evaluate the effectiveness of content, they could identify patterns, learn why specific stories increased engagement, and could continue to mature their content marketing practice.

Successes & Lessons Learned

Target Audience Personas