Social Media &
Brand Awareness
Or, How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and
Love the Mob
CCAE National Conference
Dave Tanchak | BCIT June 8, 2009

Here on behalf of a diverse and dynamic team…

Who is this dude anyway?
•Manager, Web Services, BCIT
•Part-time web design instructor
•Beer-league hockey player
•Rock star wannabe * * More on this later

Definitely not a social media:
expert
evangelist(maybe a little)
strategist(well, not entirely)
guru
More of an experimentalist, if anything.
(aren’t we all?)

The Social MediaStarfish
http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2007/11/scobles-starfish.html

The Conversation Prism
http://www.briansolis.com/2009/03/conversation-prism-v20.html

Can social media equal this?
…as a way to raise awareness?

Dunno.
Via Jeff_Werner on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffwerner/274490620/
But it definitely won’t if we don’t
get engaged.

Our research has shown:
• BCIT brand awareness is high
• Perceptions are skewed
• Breadth is poorly understood

Can we make people aware of the
breadth of our offering…
…by getting them to think and talk
about their interests and goals?

We thought we’d try.
Using communication
methods and tools
that are meaningful to
our target audience.
Photo via Matt Hamm on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/2945559128/

So let’s flip the conversation around…

An arduous journey…
Via activeside on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/activeside/2180730719/

Our, uh, “egg hunt” so far:
1 Early conversations
2 Transmogrification *
3 Loving the mob
4 What to worry about next
* Props to Calvin & Hobbes

1
2
3
4
Early conversations

We tried to start the conversation in 2003

Yeah, right.

So we went about our business…

…but we kept talking about “the mob.”
(Notice the old screenshots…)

Think we could
Kay. Lemme
You know
get some
know when
students blog
those to write
Yo Dave. IWill do.
reckon.
S’up?
Yup.
they’re ready.
some of those?
things?
Director of Marketing Me
(Boss)
…and so, about daymonths later…
Then, one 3 in 2006…

“Real students. Real life.” bcit.ca/mylife

The big idea:
• Give potential students:
– Unmediated commentary about BCIT
– A glimpse of student life that no
brochure or website content can provide
– A chance to interact with real students
• Then watch the applications roll in!

We definitely got some interesting stories…

So what about all those
conversations?
Year # of bloggers Comments Total UPV myLife UPV
06/07 7 84 > 10K > 3K
07/08 7 21 > 12K > 4K
08/09 10 47 > 36K > 5K

It seems clear that:
• Student bloggers have been providing
valuable perspective over 3 years
• We still haven’t seen the level of
engagement we hoped for

1
2
3
4
Transmogrification

For the uninitiated
Images ©Universal Press Syndicate. Original work by Bill Watterson. Originally published on 1987-03-23 & 1987-03-24.

Some of that
We’re looking
Yes, actually.
social media
I’m notvideo. a
to do really
And more
stuff. The
Seriously. Is this a
Lots Dave.
stuff on the
Yo of and so
Marketing
video. S’up?
Uh...
Cool.
Myface
It’llthis year.
rock. joke?
webarchetype.
on.
Director of Marketing Me
(Not my boss)
In the spring of 2008…

We need to transmogrify from:
• Static to dynamic
• One-way to two-way
• Announcement to conversation

Move past brochureware:
• “Here’s what we’ve got.”
• “Here’s what it costs.”
• “Here’s how you get in.”
• “Here’s what it’s like to study.”

The big idea:
• Use social media aspects:
– Creating
– Connecting
– Collaborating
– Critiquing
– Consuming

awareness of
To help us increase
our brand and breadth.

Promotional tactics:
• Outdoor advertising
• Online
• Theatre slides
• Nightcasting
• Street decaling
• Street stunts
• Recruitment events

Skytrain platform posters

Skytrain interior cards

Online advertising
• Nexopia
• Laineygossip
• Somethingawful
• Beyondrobson
• Livejournal

Theatre slides:
• 117 screens in Cineplex Movie
Theatres
• Full-motion commercials

Theatre slides: “Rims”

Theatre slides: “Date”

Nightcasting
Mobile unit that
projects ads on
sides of
buildings in high-
volume locations

Street decaling

Street stunts

BCIT
website

Campaign results:
• 10,000+ visits
• 110 transmogrifications
• 630 text changes
• 84 video changes
• 300 registered users (suspects)
• 42 star users (prospects)

1
2
3
4
Loving the mob

I was thinking
I’m not joking.
Oh, and I
we could
So I really
I evento do it
want have a Ow! My
Stop!
shoot forlot
Like, a three
want some Haha!
fourDave. it:
name for
Yo weeks
Seriously. Aw,…
Uh huh.
You’re
sides!
S’up?
crap.
video and
days on
of video. Good one.
Webathon!
from now. killing me!
Hilarious!
nights.
the site.
Director of Marketing Me
(Still not my boss)
In February of 2009…

Biannual BIG Info event plays big part in
students’ decision to come to BCIT.

The big idea:
• Shoot and post video non-stop for 4
days and 3 nights (67 hours)
• Then watch the applications roll in!

First things first – lose the webathonname.

Second, a very fast conceptual design phase.

Then we built the @#%$! thing.

67 hours is a lot of video.

Sample 3bn videos
Skateboarders Tuition winner Colonel Panic

Also notable:
• During event we used twitter to
interact with and convert a
disgruntled BIG Info attendee
• BCIT President actually passed
along congratulations to the 3bn
team (I know!)

We have started to engage the mob…
…and they aren’t that scary. (Mostly).

1
2
3
4
What to worry about next

Integrated strategy:
• Why are we involved in social media?
Why is our audience?
• How does it enhance offline efforts?
• What behaviourare we trying to
influence?
• How will we measure success?

Community tending:
• Staying engaged with the
community (wherever they may be)
• Getting internal stakeholders to
participate
• Where will conversions happen?

Focus on the experience:
• How does our presence on SM sites
integrate with our website?
• Do we have the technical expertise to
create a killer experience?
• Are our people ready to engage
online and F2F?

The mob is out there. Talking about you.
Show them some love.
Via rumikelon Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumikel/2931980674/

Dave Tanchak
dtanchak@bcit.ca
@sharpener
CCAE National Conference
June 8, 2009