UCAS clearing campaign

End client: University of Hull
Commissioning agency: Net Natives Ltd
Campaign: UCAS Clearing

Working with the digital agency Net Natives, Slate and Mortar were commissioned to produce a series of interview videos for University of Hull’s 2017 UCAS Clearing campaign. The university was keen to impress upon the viewer what it was actually like to study in Hull; what the city was like; what the campus was like; and enable the viewer to experience the ‘real’ Hull, but also clarify any queries a prospective student might have about the UCAS Clearing process.

At the point of commission, a significant portion of digital, print and online creative materials and content had already been produced, so it was our job to work with their agency partner to produce an advert that sat very comfortably within their existing student recruitment marketing campaign.

It was decided early on in the creative process that authenticity was key to this content, as students would relate and engage better with their peers, particularly if they had also taken a similar academic journey. A decision was therefore made to use student contributors who had already gone through the UCAS Clearing process; i.e. those who could share their own relatable experiences.

Alongside the more traditional style of questions that we usually ask for this type of content, we also injected a little bit of humour and irrelevancy; trying to create engagement and to reflect the university’s brand and ethos; in that, University of Hull didn’t take itself too seriously.

It was important however that production values were strong, and therefore high spec cameras, and a well-lit studio space were required. It also meant that the b-roll, (accompanying footage) of the university, the city and the campus, needed to be carefully framed, shot and edited so that each of the individual films came out looking the best they could be.

Deliverables for the project included eight master edits, plus a variety of social edits for the university’s social media marketing campaign. Due to the success of the project, Slate and Mortar were commissioned again for a number of subsequent projects, including repeated TV and cinema campaigns and a range of departmental and international student recruitment video content.