Posts Tagged ‘video marketing strategy’
Poor use of video marketing in the best European Business School
School is back and thousands of students and adult learners are about to decide where to invest their time and money to get the adequate education. More then ever Internet is the first and most important source of information for students of all ages to select a college, a university or a business school and check out their offers. Schools’ web site, home and landing page designs are crucial for converting a user into a lead or potential student. Since video content is playing a critical role in the online brand experience I have taken a look at how the top 4 European Business Schools - according to the 2008 Financial Time’s Ranking - use video to attract, inform and convert users online.
Therefore I tried to find out 2 simple things: 1. Do the schools use professionally created videos on the homepage (no embedded third party content from sharing sites), and 2. Do they include videos to sell their MBA programs. To evaluated the quality of the integration I also checked on the number of clicks necessary to find video content entering through the site’s home page and on the “web 2.0 character” of the content.
Talking about the who-is-who in higher executive business education, the findings leave a lot to be desired.
1. HEC / Paris
At the home page of the French icon of higher education we find a summery of a speach Bill Gates gave at HEC some while ago. It’s an embedded video from HEC’s YouTube channel. Click on the link “videos” and you are redirected to a news page that features a series of videos - the most recent from January 2009 - which are resumes of conferences or talks held at the university. Nothing too exciting and probably not too useful for someone who looks for information about programs. But with just 3 clicks from the home page you get to what is called “MBA stories”, a micro-site that hosts some 20 videos, basically testimonials of alumni (between 1 and 2 minutes long), where MBA graduates share their experience and memories and talk about the quality of the program. The video site has very basic sharing options: send the page to a friend and link it to Facebook or LinkedIn. No embed, no comment or video sharing options, though.
Conclusion: HEC’s home page clearly fails to impact on potentially new students - no video that explains briefly the advantages, the USP or the offer of the school. The MBA page includes a video mini-site but it lacks proper integration with the product site and the offer, no cross-selling, no call-to-action and a very basic player without sharing options.
2. London Business School
You won’t find a video at the home page of London Business School (LBS), but at least there a link to a “Dean Welcome Film” which leads to page with 6 videos about the core competences of the institution. The player is basic and the list of videos does not use thumbnails. Looking for further information on MBA programs, we find a text-based site on MBA contents, method, targets and alumni - no video either! Nevertheless, on the right we find a link to a content section called MBA TV that features 13 episodes about campus life, the program, students, etc. But the clips are presented as a list and you need to scroll down; but the worst of all: no thumbnails are include to quickly identify what the content is about. There is a download option but no way to embed, share or comment the content.
Conclusion: The idea to include a MBA TV is great, contents might be interesting for potential new students but integration is poor. There is no clear segmentation and so it’s impossible to know which content is interesting and / or useful for a specific user. Again, no sharing options are available to make the content go viral.
3. INSEAD
The second French School in the ranking, INSEAD does not use video on their home page either. 2 more clicks away from the home we find a 6 minute “MBA programme video, based on several interviews with alumni and students, sharing their personal experiences. At least, there are sharing options to export the page to Facebook or LinkedIn for example. All the rest of the information is text based.
Conclusion: Total lack of video marketing strategy.
4. IE
IE, the Madrid-based International Institute specialised in Business education and post-graduate programs includes a video window called “IE Media Campus” that features interviews with teachers, students and alumni. Although the content is institutional rather than promotional, it’s the only home page out of four that welcomes the user with a video. The player includes a scrollable list of other related clips. 2 more clicks away from the home page we find more video-base information about the International MBA program. The player does not reproduce the way users are used to - before starting the clip the user has to choose between image, podcast or video format - but offers a scroll to see other clips with practical information on admission procedure, program content and campus life.
Conclusion: Home and MBA product pages both offer videos. There is an associated site called “IE Media Campus” with more video content (student stories, practical info, financial issues, etc.) which helps the user make a decision whether IE is the right place to get a degree. There, users find the most common sharing options, including forwarding, linking, embedding and rating.
General conclusion:
1. 3 out of 4 sites analyzed have no clear video marketing strategy.
2. 3 out of 4 lack of the typical web 2.0 tools to distribute the content on the web.
3. None of the school uses innovative storytelling.
4. Contents are not designed to engage or convert the user. There is a lack of commercial and promotional intention in the implementation of video.
5. 3 of 4 do not use videos on their home page and fail to create a strong visual impact for first-time users.
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