Education New Zealand encourages the world’s international students to ‘Ask New Anything’ in new global digital campaign via Special Group

Education New Zealand (ENZ) has launched a new global, digital campaign via Special Group, designed to appeal to prospective international students who are attracted to our inclusive and forward-thinking society.

 

The campaign, ‘Ask New Anything’, connects students interested in coming to New Zealand with real people who have personal experience with a New Zealand education.

Says Grant McPherson, chief executive, ENZ: “The campaign showcases New Zealand’s innovative approach and our values of openness and manaakitanga.”

It features students, parents and teachers providing unscripted answers to the questions that students really want to know about studying and living in New Zealand. The 100 video questions are determined by market research, Google search, social media questions and chatbot data. The responses can be found on ENZ’s Study in New Zealand platforms, including Tohu the chatbot, Facebook, and WeChat.

Says McPherson: “Technologically, it is our most advanced campaign yet – we’ve looked to make it as interactive as possible.”

ENZ worked with several agencies in the development and delivery of the campaign – including Special Group, ENZ’s ‘Think New’ brand refresh partner who were also responsible for the creative strategy; Ghost Partners who developed the customer journey and user experience; OMD, Fuse and UMS who together were responsible for media activation; Theta ENZ’s chatbot partner (using FAQ Bot); Voyage, ENZ’s website developers; Roar Content who are ENZ’s content partner and SpeakData ENZ’s campaign data services partner.

Says Stu Mallarkey, creative and digital director, Special Group: “We’re not broadcasting a message to students; we’re asking them to start a conversation, putting prospective students themselves at the centre of the campaign.

“On the surface this is a beautifully simple idea, but underneath it’s technically very complicated.”

The social-centric campaign utilises new and emerging channels such as Zhihu and fully utilises ENZ’s chatbot Tohu.

The campaign will also include Instagram Live sessions where current international students will answer prospective students’ questions in real time.

‘Ask New Anything’ is the first campaign to be launched off the back of ENZ’s refreshed global brand positioning and platform.

Adds McPherson: “This will help distinguish New Zealand education as high quality and focussed on developing the student as a whole person. It also reflects our cultural norm of asking questions.”

International education contributed NZD$5.1 billion to the domestic economy in 2017/18 and was New Zealand’s fourth most valuable export sector.

Creative Agency: Special Group
Customer Journey and User Experience: Ghost Partners
Social Media Strategy and Execution: Fuse
Media Strategy and Execution: OMD Group (including OMD, Resolution and Annalect)
UMS – China campaign strategy and partner
Chatbot partners (using FAQ Bot): Theta
Campaign landing page developers: Voyage
Campaign data services partner: SpeakData
Campaign content partner: Roar