Position: Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
The Background
The backstory to these videos makes them even more ridiculous than they already seem on the surface. Especially post-pandemic, students, teachers, and families felt extra tired and drained, and who can blame them? In response, my lovely boss Mike Higginbotham was relentless in trying to come up with some sort of silly, lighthearted video series to re-energize our community. So, we did what only the most logical of marketing professionals would do in this situation: we bought a prize wheel off of Amazon, of course!
First came the prize wheel, then came the questions:
How on Earth does one incorporate a prize wheel into school-related videos in a way that makes sense?
What prizes does one include on a prize wheel?
How does one get the Gaming Commission to approve a prize wheel?
I wish I were joking when I say Mike and I spent months trying to get this project off the ground, but that is precisely why they pay us the big bucks! After weeks of very serious meetings between Mike, me, Mike’s boss Jamie, and Brebeuf’s amazing Controller Chloe - who so graciously worked with the Gaming Commission to get us the green light for our crazy idea - we were ready to go!
The Framing
As we started filming these videos, we framed them as a fun way not only to celebrate Brebeuf’s recent 60th anniversary, but also to see what we could learn about Brebeuf faculty and staff members in about a minute's time. That being said, we didn’t want to be limited by a strict 60-second rule, so we slapped an “ish” onto the end of our timer for added flexibility. Thus, the 60ish Seconds With concept was born!
The Interviews
Our goal was to get to know our faculty and staff beyond the walls of the classroom. With this in mind, interviews involved a series of hard-hitting, journalistic questions, including, but certainly not limited to:
Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or 1 horse-sized duck?
What is the most ridiculous thing you believed as a child?
What does your perfect sandwich look like?
And as a way for us to thank each of our interviewees for spending time with us, they had the distinct privilege of spinning the world-renowned, state-of-the-art Brebeuf Jesuit Prize Wheel.
The Outcome
We posted these videos across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, and they turned out to perform best on Instagram reels.
Here’s the interesting part: this series was uniquely effective at engaging an audience that is notoriously difficult to engage: members of the classes of 2017-2022. We routinely received comments and messages from recent graduates sharing how much they loved these videos, how much they missed Brebeuf, and how much they loved Mrs. DeMoss’s or Mr. Mayer’s classes when they were students. It was an unexpected outcome for this series that was really exciting to see!
The Videos
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,927 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 7,864 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,850 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,336 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,067 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 4,236 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,688 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 2,954 and counting
Total views on YouTube + Instagram: 3,897 and counting