It has been a pleasure to continue the partnership between Real Chemistry, Hill Communications and TNH Advertising Agency. The opportunity to access not only Newhouse alumni but professional public relations practitioners to guide us along campaign strategies and planning is invaluable. The collaboration between student organizations as passionately involved and supportive as Hill Comm and TNH, coupled with an incredible client filled with friendly faces, has created a unique educational and safe space for all participants. Welcoming both new and returning team members back to the campaign set up an integrated lineup ready to tackle the project.
Get Shot Done, the result of the previous semester’s work, culminated in a robust Instagram presence, a complex research report, a focus group and coverage in both local and campus media platforms. Coming into this semester, we quickly recognized the need to restructure the campaign. Vaccine confidence was an imperative topic at the time, but the fact of the matter is, the student body is actively trying to move into the post-pandemic world. Especially in comparison to the pandemic protocols of last school year, our return to campus has felt wildly different. So, remaining within the heath sphere, we identified two viable campaign topics: sexual health and mental health on campus. After conferring with the client, we ended up choosing the mental health route, and landed upon the name Minds of SU. Key drivers we knew we wanted to steer this campaign were focusing on fostering that human connection that may have been lost due to the pandemic, and reminding students through empathetic stories that we are all in this together! As a society, we’ve undergone such an unforeseeable switch that has impacted quite literally every aspect of our lives. For college students, this comes at an already volatile and formative stage in our personal growths. Addressing the mental toll and surrounding conversation behind this shift felt like the natural direction to take.
Our semester’s work rested heavily on gathering foundational data to inform the key messaging tactics, target audiences and content topics of our launch come spring. Our concise survey provided us with insightful takeaways that confirmed what we had previously speculated about SU’s student body; the pandemic drastically altered how students perceive and assess their own individual mental health, both positively and negatively. How can we bridge that gap between awareness and tangible action? Building an effort centered around a cause so close to our own hearts and journeys and with the health and happiness of our community in mind, we can’t wait to share the stories of our peers. The report will be released in the coming months of 2022. Keep an eye out!