Student involvement crucial for Uninovis’ success
From the initiation of the alliance, it has been clear that for Uninovis to succeed, students need to be actively involved in its making. Here communications and marketing make no difference. Rob van Netburg, who oversees Uninovis communications in THUAS, had invited several international communications management (ICM) students to join our workshop.
Together we brainstormed ideas on digital marketing and social media: What kind of content students potentially find interesting, what channels are the best for reaching a younger audience and how to meaningfully engage students in social media.
Me and Anna-Maria Balk had the pleasure to work with a third-year ICM student, Niamh Hunter, a true cosmopolitan herself, who had lived in several countries and had even participated in a school exchange to Finland. It was hence perhaps only natural that our conversation centered around international mobilities and how Uninovis bolsters the opportunities for studying abroad. According to Niamh, it is the practicalities that preoccupy the minds of students – how to find housing in a different country, what is a cost of living, how to move around in a new city etc. So, when marketing Uninovis joint-degrees, exchange programs and internships, these things should be clearly communicated to students, Niamh reiterated. Real-life diaries in social media, done by students for students, could be one way of doing this.
During our meeting in The Hague, we also dived into the Uninovis brand narrative and design. While the official Uninovis logo is already done, and should of course be used in official settings, it does not stop us using some imagination and playfulness in our brand design. Eliška Hrušková from New Designers, an in-house student design agency at THUAS,
presented the work they had prepared for Uninovis. The modern visuals, including several logo-versions, were seen as both fluid and interchangeable, and charmed the communication leads across the board. In their materials, New Designers had managed to capture the essence of Uninovis: The connection between the partner HEIs and the collaboration amongst people across borders.
Streamlining the communications within the alliance
Before parting ways, we also outlined the content and KPI’s for the new Uninovis webpages, discussed how to streamline both internal and external communications and agreed on the need to bring local Uninovis coordinators closer to the communication leads in each partner university. For us to be able to communicate effectively and increase awareness about Uninovis, we need input from other work packages. This information flow should be both timely and seamless.
Our visit to The Hague, although brief, was both useful and inspirational. It, again, underlined the importance of face-to-face meetings, because spending time with the people you work with considerably smoothens the way of doing things – especially when the team is scattered over 8 different countries, each having its own language and working culture. With THUAS now
at the helm, Uninovis communications is ready to take upon a new course, a course that leads us to a brighter European future, together!
Text and photos: Kirsi Popova
