In 2017, I developed a versatile brand messaging framework for the UWA Student Guild that’s still in use today.

The brief

The UWA Student Guild is an independent, student-run organisation offering an array of benefits to all 24,000+ students at The University of Western Australia. From free support services to a jam-packed events calendar and more, the Guild is responsible for pretty much everything that happens outside the classroom, creating an incredibly vibrant student culture.

But the Guild’s management team was concerned that awareness of many of these benefits – or the fact that the Guild provided them, rather than the university itself – was low. The Guild needed a fresh new set of messages delivered via a multi-channel campaign to convey its value and engage students (keeping its membership rate above the 90% mark).

The strategy

I developed the key message “Get more than a degree”, which encapsulates the Guild’s mission in one short, snappy and memorable phrase.

A series of three secondary messages summarise the breadth of the Guild’s services:

• “Get involved” – events, volunteering and leadership opportunities
• “Get value” – discounts, free stuff and valuable information and educational opportunities
• “Get support” – representation, advice, advocacy and financial assistance

Within those themes, the word “Get…” offers endless ways to frame messages about individual services, events and opportunities, always putting the focus on the benefit for students. In line with the student lifecycle, we could target sub-messages to specific audiences via specific channels at specific times.

This audience-centric messaging framework is based on the natural human tendency to look for “what’s in it for me?”. It addressed the main question new students had about Guild membership – “What do I get out of it?” – as well as the main misconception that ongoing students had – “I don’t get anything from the Guild” – making it work for both attraction and retention of members.

The results

I rolled out these messages across a wide range of communication channels, including e-newsletters, social media, digital screens, blogs, flyers, posters, presentations, publications (such as the free student diary and student survival guide), and more.

Six years later, the UWA Student Guild is still using the brand messaging I developed, and retains its position as one of the leading student unions in the nation, proving the “Get more than a degree” campaign concept as a versatile, clear and effective messaging framework.