Up close and personal with the digital generation

The youth of today are online 24/7 and students stay connected with their school or university, their peers and the outside world via their smart phones, tablets and laptops. This internet generation is embracing digital media, and the social media in particular, at a much faster rate than the previous generation. In recent years, SMU has been increasing its use of such media to connect with prospective students and the wider community – not just talking to them in their own language but also doing so through their own media.

A major overhaul of the SMU website in 2012 ensured that it is now more media rich, interactive, user friendly and engaging. The Marketing team in the Office of Corporate Communications and Marketing (OCCM) also launched a number of highly creative integrated digital campaigns, cleverly building on existing assets to make them work harder.

Moving with the times

Alan Goh, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Marketing said, “The retail and commercial giants are only now waking up to the power of digital media. Right from the outset, at SMU we‘ve been early adopters of new technology and new media. We’re using them to push the boundaries not only in our seminar rooms, but also in our branding, marketing and communications. More importantly, by doing so we’re reaching out to the right people.”In 2010, SMU started a concerted drive to use social media, such as YouTube, more extensively. The feedback has been encouraging and the results have been quite impressive.

There has also been a major shift in the consumption of content by SMU’s target audience. In 2011, although smartphones were already established, mobile visitors only contributed around 3 to 8% of traffic. By the first half of 2012, this had increased to around 15 to 25%. From July 2012 till March 2013, it grew to be around 45%. On some sites, such as Undergraduate Admissions, it has reached 55% on some days.

Alan elaborated, “Over 91% of the people who view our videos are between 16 and 24 years old. Our video named ‘Employer’ has more than tripled in the number of views, from 24,592 views as of 31 May 2012 to over 90,000 views now. Our more popular videos are getting more than double the number of views as those of similar institutions in Singapore.”

Benny Toh, Head of Corporate Marketing said that in the last 18 months SMU has taken the leap from being the challenger to becoming a leader. “Results have shown that our marketing efforts are on the right track,” he says. “In just two weeks, views of our top video this year surpassed those of our top video in 2012 over the three months when it was made available. SMU’s YouTube brand channel recently passed the 1 million views threshold and what’s really exciting is that we’re getting more than twice as many views than other local universities.”

Industry recognition

Even the industry practitioners are taking notice and recognising the University’s efforts. SMU has won a slew of awards for this work, including a Silver medal at SPH's 2012 Iink Awards; 2013 Marketing Magazine’s Excellence in Advertising, and Integrated Marketing; and most recently swept three awards at the 2013 Mob-Ex for Best Brand Awareness, Best Integration of Mobile and Best Original Content (see main photo).

For more details, contact Benny Toh, Head of Corporate Marketing, OCCM, email bennytoh [at] smu.edu.sg (bennytoh[at]smu[dot]edu[dot]sg).

[Featured photo: The digital generation (from L): Beverley Seow (OCCM), Deborah Hoe (SMU undergraduate) Nathanael Goh (SMU undergraduate), Regine Low (SMU undergraduate), Rosanne Luo (OCCM) and Michael Ng (OCCM).]

Awards featured (from L): (1) SPH iink Awards 2012 (Silver); (2) Marketing Magazine’s Marketing Excellence Awards 2012, Excellence in Advertising (Silver); (3) Marketing Magazine’s Marketing Excellence Awards 2012, Excellence in Integrated Marketing (Bronze); (4) MOB-Ex Awards 2013, Best Integration of Mobile (Bronze); (5) MOB-Ex Awards 2013, Best Original Content (Silver); and (6) MOB-Ex Awards 2013, Best Brand Awareness Campaign (Silver).