The Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Marketing and Communication Office has been awarded a “Best of District” award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Higher Education (CASE) in the category of video commercials for District III.
The winning one-minute video, "A Community that Believes in You: UK College of Engineering,” takes prospective students on a visual tour of what “community” looks like for UK Engineering students. The goal was to go beyond telling prospective students about our community and to provide them an opportunity to feel what it would be like to be a member of our community.
Utilizing primarily in-house resources, the marketing and communications office scripted, scheduled, directed, edited, and developed the visual language for the commercial. Production of the commercial was limited to two days of filming during the summer of 2022 and required a camera operator, a camera assistant and a production assistant from an outside vendor, Courage Media. Working under the direction of the former associate director of media production, Eric Sanders, they highlighted 10 locations across campus and involved over 60 individuals. With extreme attention to detail, the final product was a visual and technical achievement for the college.
The commercial premiered at college leadership events hosted by the dean. A YouTube ad campaign accompanied this project to direct traffic to our application website and saw approximately 25% conversion rate from viewership to website clicks. The lighting design for the commercial inspired a new aesthetic for college photography. The photography was then incorporated into updating printed and digital recruitment materials.
The commercial was one of three honored in the Southeast (District III). District III includes higher education institutions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Other contributors to the video project were Associate Director for Marketing Aaron Camenisch and former engineering marketing and communication staff, Derrick Meads, Rayven Ladenburger and Matt Johnson.