Leeds University Business School

Client: University of Leeds
Project: Leeds University Business School​

In collaboration with Leeds University Business School, Slate and Mortar were tasked to create two highly engaging and dynamic films aimed at prospective students to support the successful communication of provision and opportunities at Leeds University Business School (LUBS) to support employability and future career success.

The main objective of the videos was to support the LUBS student recruitment goals at both undergraduate and master levels by sparking student’s interest and ultimately encouraging them to apply for the course. We had to clearly communicate how LUBS supports its students in regard to future career support and co-curricular experiences. During the pre-production stages, we worked closely with the LUBS marketing team through a series of preliminary video calls and meetings to ensure our creative approach was in line with the key messages they wanted to convey in the films.

• Preparing students for a successful future in a complex and changing world
• Providing opportunities to go further, helping students leave as a highly employable graduate
• Applying what you have learnt and gaining hands-on real-world business experience during a year in the industry
• Gain industry insight and build professional connections through our Nurturing Talent Mentor Scheme

The films had an aspirational/inspirational tone throughout which positioned LUBS as an attractive place to come and study as well as demonstrating how LUBS supports its students for a successful future career. The way in which we achieved this was to harness the authenticity and relatability of real people so we could gain real insights. We filmed graduates, such as Yasmin Akram who works as a Marketing Manager for Sky Cinema as well as interviewing current students and academics. This gave us a compelling mix of perspectives within the films from diverse backgrounds and showed what is possible for students thinking of studying a course at LUBS.

The filming was set over three days during which we filmed and captured all interviews and b-roll footage. We filmed two graduates on separate days with Yasmin in her current workplace at Sky and Freddie Payne in and around the city. We also had one day of shooting at the University with current students and academics, and to pick up any necessary b-roll to help aid our final edits.

For the post-production stage, we built the films using the interviewee’s soundbites and constructed a narrative that aligned perfectly with the key messages and inspirational tone LUBS wanted from the videos. We used on-screen graphics/text to pull out the key messages further and included b-roll sequences to add pace and heighten the film’s overall interest.  After a thorough amendment and feedback process we were left with two polished, engaging, and highly professional films that inspire prospective students and graduates to want to come and study at LUBS. The films reflect everything LUBS has to offer potential students and emphasise how they will support you every step of the way for a successful future career.