Quinnipiac Office of Student Engagement
Features: Motion Graphics, Social Media, Promotion, Brand Identity
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Instagram
Timeline: June 2022 - July 2022
Background:
While I worked as a Social Media Coordinator and Designer for Quinnipiac University's "Office of Student Centers and Student Involvement," I was approached during their process of a name change to "Office of Student Engagement" to better reflect their mission and purpose.
This change required revamping their existing brand guidelines and creating new social media collateral to promote the new name and brand to those following the office's Instagram account.
Process:
I began by analyzing the existing brand guidelines and identifying the key design elements that could be incorporated into their social media content.
I also researched the target audience to better understand their preferences and design choices. Then I used my findings to draft a tentative social media plan and schedule.
Analysis Findings:
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The office’s color palette matches the colors of Quinnipiac’s traditional branding. Occasionally, they will use different shades of these three colors to create more variety.
Navy Blue: #0c2340
Light Blue: #418fde
Yellow: #ffb81c
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No designated ones used throughout each post, but mostly using san-serif and decorative typefaces
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Majority of Followers: QU Students and Alumni
Age Group: 18-23+
Occasionally targets younger audiences through collaboration with Orientation and Admissions
Primary Locations: CT, NY, NJ
Once the plan and schedule were approved, I went ahead and created a series of feed posts, stories, and campaigns that prominently featured the new name and brand elements. The posts were designed to be eye-catching and easily shareable, with the new office's name standing out.
One of my key design decisions was to use Instagram Reels to promote the main announcement of the name change. Between the usage of video and images to capture the spirit of student engagement, I believed it would gain a lot of attention from the students and staff at Quinnipiac. I made this decision after extensive research and discovery that Instagram Reels are prioritized more on the main feed than stagnant posts.
In terms of promotion, another choice I made was to announce a giveaway shortly after the rebrand as a 'celebration.' I used bold typography and colors, so the post stood out on people's feeds, and I prompted the users to like the post, follow the office's Instagram account, and tag 3 friends.
Social Media Promotion Objectives Plan:
Objective 1: Hinter Posts
These 3 posts would spell out “OSE” on the main Instagram feed. When the first one is posted, it will hook the audience in using confusion, because they will have no idea why just the letter “O” is on their feed.
This will make people tap on our page, share it with friends, and follow the page if they are not already.
Objective 2: Announcement Post
This post is going to be an animated video announcing the name change. Since this is utilizing Instagram Reels, Instagram will prioritize it on people’s feeds over other posts.
The goal of this post is to make sure as many people see it as possible. This will be achieved through the usage of Reels to capture people’s attention, and having all of our staff re-share the post on their accounts.
Objective 4: OSE Rebrand Celebration Giveaway
To celebrate the new name change for the office, one of the other posts that will go out is a giveaway announcement, where we will be giving away Quinnipiac merchandise to one lucky student!
This will promote the rebrand through re-shares, tagging friends and required follows in order to be entered.
Objective 3: Launching Friday Feature Campaign
The Friday Features Campaign highlights over-achieving Quinnipiac University students by showcasing their accomplishments in their various student organizations! This was started in 2021/2022, but starting with this rebrand, these posts will be posted every Friday.
Objective 5: Changing Profile Picture and Username
It would not be a complete rebrand without a new picture and username! This would solidify the rebrand as they will see OSE’s name on the profile instead of SCSI.
Timeline:
June 15: Design profile picture and research available usernames
June 20: July 1: Create Hinter posts & Announcement Post
July 15: Confirm name and official logo change by University administration, select username
July 17: Hinters posted throughout the day
July 18: Announcement Post, plan giveaway
July 22: Launch first #fridayfeature as OSE
July 28: Giveaway
Results:
The newly designed social media collateral was well-received by the Office of Student Engagement and they saw an immediate increase in engagement and following on their Instagram account. The account gained 100 more followers from the rebranded posts alone, bringing them to 1,000 right before the giveaway was announced. Students, staff, and other members of the Quinnipiac community were actively sharing the posts and stories, helping to spread the word about the rebranding initiative.
The change from the "Office of Student Centers and Student Involvement" to the "Office of Student Engagement" was an exciting opportunity for me being a newly hired social media coordinator and designer at the time, as I was able to create engaging and visually appealing social media graphics to promote it. This work has been instrumental in announcing the new name to the Quinnipiac community and increasing engagement on the office's Instagram account.
This is the newly re-designed profile picture that is associated with the Instagram account, @qu_ose. I matched the colors used throughout their social media to create this icon that ties their whole account together.