Marketing Australia – February-March 2019

@marketingmag

THE TRUTH ISSUE

The font launched in October 2018

as a free download for Mac or PC,

as well as a Chrome browser

extension. Unlike a traditional

campaign, the heart of this project

was the product itself, with the

communications activity all serving

to bring people to interact with

the font.

The project included several

communications elements:

• Website
  The heart of the campaign was
  the website, where people could
  learn about the font and how it
  was developed, download it or
  the Chrome extension, sign up
  to receive more study hacks
  and advice over the exam
  period or test the font for
  themselves with an interactive
  function that allowed them to
  save study notes.


• Online videos
  Hosting on the website and
  then sharing through owned
  channels, we created a range of
  videos that brought the story of
  Sans Forgetica to life. A short-
  form introductory video provided
  a versatile asset to explain the
  font, and more in-depth videos
  then explored the psychology of
  the font and the design process
  for its development.


• Search
  A strategy for paid search was
  developed to reach students
  while searching for information
  about the specifi c subjects they
  were studying. An analysis of
  key texts and topics included in
  the 2018 VCE and HSC exam
  syllabus informed a keyword
  strategy that ensured RMIT
  popped up as the answer to
  help students remember the
  most important aspects of
  their subjects.
  
  
  • Social
    Complementing organic social
    activity through RMIT’s owned
    channels was a range of paid
    social media posts targeting
    students when they were taking
    a break from their studies to
    catch up on their social world.
    Executions in this channel took
    a more light-hearted look at the
    hassles and stresses students
    feel while studying, before
    introducing Sans Forgetica as
    the ultimate ‘hack’ to help them.
  
  
  • Direct
    The school student cohort
    were also reached through a
    schools outreach program, with
    beautifully crafted books sent
    out to principals and careers
    advisers at schools across
    Victoria. Each book provided
    the in-depth story of how the
    collaborative process brought
    together different disciplines
    within the university to deliver a
    genuine real-world innovation.
    And, with the font included on
    a USB drive that came with the
    book, it was in the hands of
    people who could influence large
    numbers of our target audience.
  
  
  • PR
    While the core acquisition
    audience was local school
    leavers, at a brand level RMIT
    wanted to be known as a
    world-class global university
    while based in Melbourne.
    A PR strategy was therefore
    developed around two key
    local audiences – Year 12
    students and their parents – but
    also a broader national and
    international audience with the
    aim of delivering brand reach.
    We understood that the best
    way to gain PR traction was
    to tailor the story to different
  
  
  
  

target media, to provide a

comprehensive suite of assets to

media to make their lives easy,

and to have key members of the

project team on call ready for

interviews. We targeted general

news media, technology, design,

psychology, education and

youth media.

Results: Sans Forgetica has

captured imaginations both locally

and globally, and has proven to be a

ground-breaking success from both

a brand and acquisition perspective.

While data for university preferences

is not yet available, all lead indicators

are showing that by fi nding a way

to be more useful, Sans Forgetica is

delivering a truly memorable result:

• 700 million earned media
  impressions


• $7 million earned media value


• 27 million social impressions


• 69 percent share of category
  voice


• 265,000 font downloads
  (objective was 22,500), and


• 87,000 email leads generated.
  Results above are for the
  fi rst six weeks after the launch:
  the key revision and exam window
  for school leavers. Given the
  nature of the project, font downloads
  and leads will continue to be
  delivered on an ongoing basis.
  So much more than a traditional
  advertising campaign, Sans
  Forgetica has become a product
  with its own place in culture.
  People are sharing and using the
  font in their own quirky ways,
  and academics around the world
  are in discussions with RMIT about
  further research applying Sans
  Forgetica in clinical applications,
  as well as extending it to other
  languages.