Where You Belong

client

Stanford Recreation and Wellness

role

Content, Production, Strategy

recognition

NIRSA Creative Excellence Award

year

2023

Launch Project

Objective

Tell the new story and direction of Stanford’s Recreation and Wellness department by highlighting its positive impact and influence on the Stanford community beyond the gym, fostering a sense of belonging and engaging students, faculty, staff, and leadership.

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What we've done

Storytelling and Framing
Video Production Planning
Execution and Collaboration

Creative Process

Vision Alignment:
- Developed a project plan with mood boards and creative briefs to guide the messaging and look of the video.
Planning and Logistics:
- Hired a video production team, planned the shoot schedule, and obtained all location permissions.
Filming Execution:
- Collaborated with the team on-site during 12-hour shoot days, managing participants, logistics, and real-time adjustments.
Post-Production Refinement:
- Iteratively refined the video through seven rounds of edits to align with creative objectives and stakeholder feedback.
Launch and Deployment:
- Released the final video on Rec Day (2/22/23) and deployed it across marketing platforms, onboarding processes, and varsity games..

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Results

Engagement Metrics:

Achieved 3.4K views on YouTube by October 2023.
Integrated into Stanford Athletics onboarding and showcased at varsity games.

Reputation Impact:

Increased visibility and legitimacy, leading to requests for creative direction support across the university

Benchmarked Performance:

Compared video views to peer institutions (Duke, Northwestern, U. Wisconsin, Harvard, etc.) and performed similarly or better.

Conclusion

The video successfully communicated the department’s new direction, showing its impact beyond the gym and engaging the entire Stanford community. Through effective planning, collaboration, and strategic storytelling, the project achieved high engagement, legitimized Recreation and Wellness’s creative capabilities, and set a new standard for multimedia communications across campus.