UNSW Digital Transformation
A customer lead digital transformation strategy focusing on innovation.
The Project
The University of NSW had set a new digital vision to deepen its connection with its audiences by 2025. To realise this a guiding framework on how UNSW can design, build and automate the digital experiences desired by their key audiences was required.
This would serve as a platform to enable discovery, connection, invention and innovation of digital experiences, while delivering results against KPIs for the university in rankings, engagement, satisfaction or student numbers and alumni donations.
This was defined as an Experience Plan Document that informs a clear view on the most appropriate digital initiatives to successfully drive business outcomes and meet the needs and expectations of audiences. The recommendations aims to help move happier, more engaged audiences closer to the UNSW brand in a way that makes them advocates for this world leading institution.
Project scope
This transformational project was realised across a four-stage approach.
Discovery
Taking an inside-out approach to understand UNSW’s current digital marketing activity, goals and capability.
Distillation
Taking an outside-in approach via research on the key audience groups to better understand the gaps between the current and future desired UNSW digital experience.
Definition
Creating a roadmap for experience delivery to the key audience groups; along with a capability plan to enable the experience delivery.
Delivery
Working with UNSW to develop a business case for approval, and begin the roadmap towards digital marketing transformation.
Audience profiles
At the heart of the digital marketing strategy are four key audiences whom experiences for their life-long learning and professional journeys are designed for.
I lead multiple audience focused workshops and the distillation of their outputs. These were synthesised with core customer and business data to produce easy to understand audience profiles. This data-driven research captured what key audiences are trying to accomplish, their challenges, behaviours, how they think and make decisions about where to study, engage as an alumni or partner for their enterprise needs. The four key audiences of domestic future students, international future students, alumni and enterprise were focused on because they represented the biggest opportunity to make an impact on the objective of ‘increasing revenue and operational excellence’.
Customer journey mapping
Following the distillation of the research in to four key audience profiles, their pathways from awareness and first interaction with UNSW through to their lifecycle of engagement were mapped in detail.
I ran multiple customer and stakeholder workshops to track and define this as detailed steps in the form of customer experience journeys.
Mapping the current state customer journeys allowed for the simple identification of challenges and barriers which inspired effective solutions for the University marketing teams to utilise in a connected, relevant and consistent experience along the customer journey.
Experience plan initiatives
Using the insights generated from the audience pains, gains and jobs to be done, a series of audience specific initiatives to address their needs along their unique journeys were created.
Running co-design workshops with University stakeholders utilising ‘How Might We’ statements allowed for collective solution design to address key customer centric opportunities. Producing and ideating solutions specific to future international and domestic students, alumni and enterprise were groped over a one, two and five year roadmap to demonstrate the adoption of strategy over time.
Future Students
Initiatives for Future Students were created to: Define clear propositions for how UNSW is unique to underpin messages that meet the audience’s needs; Show relevance by following an audience member personally along their journey to enrolment; Improve entertaining use of digital around events; Model the experience for future students; Convert the ready students from application to enrolment; Provide a world-class student welcome through a personalised onboarding program.
Alumni
Initiatives for Alumni were created to: Define clear propositions for how engaging with UNSW as an alumni will improve their own careers and networks; use supportive lifecycle communications to show relevance on an individuals personal and professional lifelong learning journey; Be engaging with data capture techniques, lead-nurturing and relevant follow up communication (email, social, sms, website) around events; Model the experience for Alumni and embrace their passions for personal relevance.
Enterprise
Initiatives for Enterprise were created to: Define clear propositions for how engaging with UNSW as an enterprise partner will improve their business; Show relevance on an individual’s journey from awareness to project completion and beyond through relevant updates around research; Be engaging with data capture, lead nurturing and relevant follow up communication (email, social, sms, website) around events; Model the experience for enterprise partners through PR, video content, case studies and online tools; Simplify the path for enterprise partners to engage with UNSW with seamless website navigation, video content, case studies, white papers, tools to demonstrate the process and a simple way to make contact.
Credits
Agency: WiTH Collective
Senior Strategist: Hally Lara
Account Director: Lindsay Batstone
Head of Digital Experience: Paul Kelly
April, 2018