CASE STUDY #2: SCU Personalized Admissions Welcome
AT A GLANCE
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Sector: Higher Education / Admissions & Recruitment.
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Objective: Drive higher acceptance rates and social media engagement among prospective students.
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Utility: Personalized 60-second "hype" video sent to newly admitted student candidates.
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The "Closer": A data-driven cinematic welcome that personalized the "big envelope" moment for every student.
THE CHALLENGE:
Standing Out in a Virtual Market
Santa Clara University (SCU) needed to break through traditional admissions noise to drive higher yield rates and create a shareable social moment for accepted students. The project faced two major hurdles: an extremely tight pre-Thanksgiving delivery timeline and a campus shutdown that limited the ability to film new student footage.
THE ARCHITECTURE:
Personalized Narrative Engine
We architected a high-energy production strategy that blended bespoke mascot footage with sophisticated post-production techniques.
Dynamic Personalization:
We delivered a Master After Effects template that enabled seamless personalization of each student’s first name, last name, and hometown.
VFX-Enhanced Reality:
To recreate the energy of a packed arena during the lockdown, we filmed the SCU mascot, Bucky, at center court in the Leavey Center. We then integrated virtual video screens featuring archival b-roll of cheering fans and cheerleaders, synchronized with a building "pro-basketball" style soundtrack.
Precision Motion Tracking:
We utilized advanced motion tracking on physical whiteboards held by Bucky, the arena’s overhead scoreboard, and students, allowing student-specific data to appear naturally within a dynamic video environment.
Cinematic Climax:
To help the "Welcome to SCU" moment land with maximum impact, we layered immersive crowd SFX with CGI confetti overlays for a high-performance finish.
THE WIN
The personalized video became a mission-critical tool for the admissions department, successfully driving increased acceptance rates and providing students with an "epic" moment to share on their social channels. The project's success led to a subsequent multi-year partnership to refresh several of SCU's other mission-critical assets, including updates with championship footage and new drone cinematography.
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From the CLIENT
"OMG!!!!!!!!!! SO SO SO AWESOME! You all are the BEST! Love it!! Incredible!"