When Northeastern University sent out an RFP looking for an agency to redesign its College of Science’s family of websites, Hatch eagerly responded. With plenty of experience helping increase admissions, we were selected to make the NUCOS digital presence more cohesive, engaging, and impactful. Our goal was to put the spotlight on the school’s unique experiential learning model, rigorous academics, expert faculty, and desirable campus atmosphere. Once the website transformation was complete, we then turned our attention toward content and digital media to help drive traffic to the new site.
GOING TO THE HEAD OF THE CLASS
Northeastern University is already very appealing to potential students and staff—it has an incredible Boston location, dynamic academic programs, and faculty entrenched in their fields of teaching—but how could we help the University’s College of Science rise above its many competitor schools? We knew we needed to hone in on the differentiators that make NUCOS a more practical and useful education.
Understanding the full scale and future growth initiatives of the website, our design strategy went back to its foundation. We created a design system that accounted for each and every web element that might be needed, and then expanded it to allow for more complex modules. A page builder was implemented and made accessible so the client could also build additional pages on their own, plugging new content into the pre-designed modules. This allowed for optimal flexibility while also keeping the site consistent, user-friendly, and true to design.
What good is a great site if nobody visits it? Once the redesign was complete, we were then tasked with driving traffic to it. To engage prospective students, we scripted and produced a video that used a mix of b-roll footage and motion graphics to tell the story of what it’s like to learn and personally develop in an experiential college environment. We wanted to take the viewer on a journey, showing them how NUCOS transcends international borders for the most hands-on education possible.
STEERING STUDENTS TO CAMPUS
In addition to the video, we also created a digital ad campaign that shared the breadth of majors available within the school and highlighted how each is exceptionally career-focused. As a whole, NUCOS prioritizes preparation for tomorrow, encouraging students to dream of a career path and then giving them the tools and opportunities to advance down it. We wanted the series of ads to be empowering and eye-catching, navigating students to the newly designed site so they can immerse themselves in the experience.
