CASE STUDY
We partnered with the University of Oregon Executive MBA (OEMBA) program to create over 100 unique testimonials for their student recruitment efforts.
Campaign Dates: March - May, 2024
Our Role: Content creation, end-to-end video services, interview prep, content optimization for cross-platform and media release
Summary
NTI Upstream interviewed over a dozen OEMBA alumni and current students to capture their perspectives about the program and how it changed their lives.
The videos were distributed across social media and spearheaded the program’s digital marketing efforts on LinkedIn. Several videos were selected to air on television – KOIN and CW streaming – during the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game and Post-Game show.
CHALLENGES
Addressing Diverse Profiles
The prospective Executive MBA candidates spanned industries, job functions, and career stages, which meant that messaging had to be tailored to resonate with a wide range of professional goals and motivations.
Maintaining Consistency
With numerous videos in play, the team had to ensure each one adhered strictly to brand guidelines in terms of tone, visual design, and messaging. This included everything from typography and logo placement to on-screen text and narrative style. The goal was to present a unified brand story while allowing enough flexibility for individual voices – students, alumni, faculty – to shine through authentically.
This campaign exemplified the complexity of modern, multimedia-driven student recruitment in higher education. It required a seamless blend of strategy, storytelling, analytics, and operations, driven by a clear vision and executed with precision across dozens of moving parts. The lessons learned from this initiative provide valuable insights for future campaigns targeting discerning, high-achieving candidates in a competitive academic market.
Running a student recruitment campaign for the Oregon Executive MBA program presented a unique set of challenges:
Scope and Scale
With over 150 videos produced for distribution across web and social media platforms, the campaign required a highly coordinated effort across multiple phases of production. Managing such a high volume of content meant that every step – from pre-production planning to filming logistics and post-production editing – had to be tightly organized.
Insights
The OEMBA campaign yielded a wealth of insights into what it takes to successfully execute a high-impact, video-driven marketing initiative.
The importance of building scalable systems for content production was one of the most critical lessons we learned. With over 150 videos created, it became clear that creativity alone wasn't enough – success hinged on developing repeatable workflows, such as modular scripting, shared assets, and batch production strategies. This allowed the team to maintain consistency while efficiently producing content at scale.
Understanding that hyper-targeted messaging drives stronger engagement was an equally important insight. Executive MBA candidates are not a homogeneous group; they vary significantly in terms of background, industry, and motivation. Tailoring content to specific audience segments, such as entrepreneurs, mid-career professionals, or corporate leaders, increases relevance and effectiveness. When paired with a platform-specific strategy, this approach became even more powerful. The campaign reinforced that every platform – from LinkedIn to Instagram to YouTube – demands customized storytelling, both in format and tone. A video that performs well on LinkedIn may underperform on Instagram unless it is adapted to suit the platform's specific needs.
The value of brand consistency was another key takeaway. Far from limiting creativity, consistent visual and messaging guidelines actually empowered it, enabling the team to tell diverse, authentic stories while maintaining a cohesive brand identity. This consistency helped build trust and credibility with the audience, especially important for a program rooted in leadership and professional advancement.
This project demonstrated that when infrastructure, storytelling, and collaboration are in sync, even a large-scale campaign can deliver both immediate outcomes and lasting brand value.
Results
Results for this campaign exceeded our client’s goals and expectations! Here’s the key data provided by the OEMBA program.
35 qualified leads
On average, over 10/month during the campaign
