We are Contra Agency

The maturation of lacklustre, handycam-esque higher education content into intelligent, effective, marketable campaigns is changing the way that colleges and universities are able to target potential students. Not to mention, it’s giving curious applicants at home and abroad a tangible opportunity to see what life might be like for them at [insert your University or College’s name here].

In short, if you are not seriously considering your video output then you are running the risk of not just alienating, but entirely missing a growing demographic of students who make many of their judgements based on what they see on the screen of their laptop or mobile device.

The University of Cambridge first approached Contra almost 5 years ago. Their Admission Office was one of the first in the country to really understand the power of video marketing. Since that first meeting we have made over 100 videos for Cambridge, ranging from those that promote subjects, bust myths, endorse academics or simply prepare applicants for that looming interview date.

What Cambridge understood was that just like with a product or brand, video content provides an opportunity to affect an audience's opinion in a truly meaningful way. And just like when you look at the facade of a shop window, the aesthetic, arrangement and subjective relevance of that content helps you to decide whether you want to walk through the door and find out more.

Since then, more and more educational institutions have approached us to create similar content. From the likes of Imperial University London, to Bromley College, Cass Business School and City University London.

But let’s be clear, there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution to video content. Contra (or any video production company) can’t create you an all-encompassing video that will appeal to every demographic.

What we can do is, learn about your offering, understand your target audience, keep in mind your brand, and develop tailored concepts that are in-line with your ethos. With your help we can work together to win awards, promote great minds and innovate fresh content that speaks to a demographic that doesn’t just want, but craves video content.

How’s about with ‘know thy audience’?

Prospective students will of course be top of any university website audience list. However, that’s not the whole story - there are also current students, international visitors, potential investors, alumni, staff, people wishing to find out about or use the university’s facilities, and so on. It’s vital that you create user journeys that satisfy each group. The only way to do that is to fully understand their respective needs and goals. So - do your user research before you do anything else.

But let’s stay with the prospective student for now - that primary audience member type universities (and sometimes the colleges or departments with a university) compete for.

A recent ‘Which? University’ http://university.which.co.uk/ survey found that the most important topics prospective students want to know about are course content (77%), academic reputation (57%), distance from home (57%) and quality of academic facilities (57%).  So - therein lie some clues as to how best to serve up information and other content on your site.

When Contra came up with a new design for the Ravensbourne site, we took notice of what users wanted most and our design allowed the cutting edge, digitally focused college to showcase work, event or sub-brand sections of the site (through the use of full-screen video or photographic backgrounds). This flexibility allowed areas of the site to be distinct, whilst retaining a unified feel.

Our homepage design focused on the top three user requirements, but Ravensbourne could also alter these options and the background to suit different periods of the year, such as clearing and enrolment. And our approach worked; Ravensbourne hurtled up the UK university website rankings by 245 places, after launch.

Moving on, something that many prospective students find invaluable is anecdotally-based information - from students themselves, which perhaps explains the popularity of community sites such as The Student Room - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/.

Our advice here is to give prospective students a direct line through to your current student community. Weave social streams or blogs through your site, or follow the example of universities such as Cambridge, with their ‘Alternative Prospectus’ site: http://www.applytocambridge.com/, which opens with ‘Everything you are about to read has been written by current students at the University...’

A common area of weakness for many universities is down to the fact that they actually operate as an amalgam of departments, faculties, schools or colleges. Reflecting a coherent brand strategy that simultaneously allows room for the individual ‘brand personality’ of any given department within a university can be incredibly hard to get right. Our advice would be to establish brand guidelines that cover pan-university commonalities/mandatories, but that also allow each department room to ‘breathe’, from a branding perspective. There are actually many possible approaches here - and we’d strongly advise a bespoke approach, based upon the specific make-up of the institution in hand. As an example though, a university could elect to go for a site-wide/common core structure and main features, but with departments and faculties each customising their own ‘content modules’ within this framework.

We’ll explain…

Firstly - (just in case you need filling in) - the WEF is an annual meeting attended by business, political and other leaders. In all, there are over 2,500 participants, including 40 Heads of State. The primary aim is to discuss ten global challenges affecting the world today, as well as current affairs.

Contra’s client, KPMG, has been a strategic partner of the WEF for many years, and will be supporting the WEF at six events around the world this year. As you can imagine, the logistics behind KPMG’s contribution to the WEF are rather complex, to say the least.

And that’s where we come in; Contra are a long-standing, trusted delivery-partner of KPMG’s. Our relationship with KPMG spans a number of years and a raft of highly successful projects. Specifically, tonight, KPMG will be managing the experience of attendees at this evening’s event - using a bespoke event management app developed and maintained by Contra.

The event management app in question is just one stop on a long line of Contra-created project successes for KPMG. Versions of the app have been used by KPMG to manage events around the globe including locations such as New York, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Chicago and Cancun…

The app is more than just a tool for augmenting the delegate experience at these events; it augments the very culture of the events...Indeed, KPMG rely on Contra’s app, time and time again, as a key component of an overall brand experience. Sure, it cleverly enables a whole host of delegate interactions - including live voting, demo bookings, hotel booking/management, flights, agendas, note-taking, and so on (we could go on...but hopefully by now you are getting the picture). But more than that, it’s a fine example of KPMG ‘practicing what they preach’ on one of their core company values; to lead by example.

Contra were commissioned to design and build the quiz for Square Enix. Contra chose Ruby on Rails as the framework for the build, as well as Knockout, to ensure a wonderful, rich experience for the gamer. Contra’s design was in line with the game’s branding, to reflect the look and feel of the latest Final Fantasy inspired game.

The quiz allowed gamers to test their knowledge on the Final Fantasy series of games, by having to correctly identify a specific game, based on a music track played to them. The quiz selected 10 random songs in total, taken from the 150 song tracks played throughout the series.  

The quiz was released in a total of six different languages, corresponding with Square Enix’s standard procedure for releasing games.

The game was also connected to Facebook, so players could compete with friends and showcase their top scores.

Contra's Process 

The website needed to engage viewers, forming an inviting space where they could find out and read various information regarding Queens college. Contra began this project with consultation so both Queens and Contra could clarify what was needed for the final creation. One of the challenging areas of the project was the multiple of stakeholders involved with the college, which meant the website needed to function in several ways to target all their needs.

This project was the first in a series planned phases of improving the site. This initial project focused on redesigning and restructuring the site. Contra ensured the new website was designed as a foundation, working as a platform which is ready to grow and develop. The new site was also built in Drupal, which allowed for content to be easily manageable.

The outcome

New Cadbury World interactive experience 

Cadbury World is at the very heart of the Cadbury brand; allowing visitors to experience the magic behind the world-famous chocolate brand in the historical town of Bourneville, where Cadbury was founded, over 200 years ago.

The Cadbury World refit was comprised of a series of attractions, the most treasured being the bringing to life of ‘Joyville’. The Joyville environment was maintained by a centralised ‘show controller’, which triggered commands to such elements as music speakers, lights and doors.

At the centre of the Joyville journey was an interactive 4D experience, where visitors got to watch chocolatey characters come alive in front of their eyes. 3D glasses were worn while sitting on specially rigged seats, which moved along with action taking place all around them.

For contra to create a magical interactive game for Cadburys Joyvile, we had to take a holistic view of the visitor experience....

Contra Agency's process

Contra were commissioned to enhance this fantastical journey with the creation of multiple interactive games. A series of six kiosk-based games were designed and built by Contra, each augmenting the overall Joyville experience. Each game had a different chocolate-based adventure to complete, all of which greatly entertained visitors, adding to their delightful Joyville journey. The games were managed centrally via an easy-to-use app; also delivered by Contra.

Contra elected to use Unity to build the games. The benefits were clear; elegant and powerful handling of multimedia assets, a versatile physics engine and the overall capability to create engaging and entertaining games.

The games success

Contra's challenge

The challenge lay within making the complicated understandable and in ensuring this new, advanced technology was represented in an accessible and internationally appealing tone.

Contra worked closely with Edelman to swiftly understand the technology itself, the various concepts behind it and the industry it sat within. Contra also made sure there was a full understanding of the target audiences and their requirements, before commencing the script writing.

Production Process

Contra decided on animation for the film; the perfect choice for simplifying the technology, through clear visual images. It was imperative to ensure the client’s global target audiences were addressed effectively. This was achieved via a carefully and collaboratively developed script, and the employment of clear and accessible animation. These provided a detailed yet succinct explanation of the advanced semiconductor technology and its place within industry at large. Ultimately, the project needed to appeal to potential buyers, including current competitors, which meant the content needed to spark interest and create appeal, to drive custom.

The films success 

Square Enix's new project for Contra Agency 

Contra had worked with Square Enix on multiple projects before this one, and this website was another highly creative and innovative project for Contra to become involved in. The ultimate goal was to generate interest and desire around the new game being launched. Square Enix provided assets for the site, allowing Contra to design and build a website that reflected the mysterious and haunting storyline.

Square Enix devised the campaign across a multiple of channels and posted images onto social media acting as one of the characters in the game. This guided users to the site, where they had to solve the puzzle by inserting symbols which were displayed on the images they had seen, leading to a reveal of images associated with Murdered.

The websites success 

Contra successfully delivered an engaging site for Square Enix, that satisfied the ‘information hunger’ of fans, all keen for the game’s release. The Invisible Gamer (2014)* outlined this concept as ‘one of the best advertising campaigns Square Enix has ever run’ with Contra delivering a crucial element. The end result effectively took users on an exciting, almost addictive journey, leaving them wanting more!

However, the problem occurred with their existing website not being able to efficiently cater for the amount of users accessing the site, after the Radio 4 annual appeal. The solution was to create a subsite for the charity ensuring a manageable and smooth donation process.

St Martin in the Field’s main site has to work hard to serve multiple functions, including delivering news and information, and as such, is a fairly ‘busy’ environment. A simple, dedicated area, or sub site, for the charity was thus required…

An existing client of Contra’s, St Martin in the Fields’ commission centered around this requirement to streamline the donation process and to shepherd visitors who may have heard about the appeal Radio 4.

The sites successful outcome 

Contra created a modern, user friendly design for St Martin in the Fields, so donors could get straight to where they wanted to be; the donations point. The site was created using responsive design principles and thus was mobile optimised, catering for every donation scenario and device used. Overall, the site reflected an informative and accessible design, featuring Contra’s ‘What matters to you at Christmas?’ film, which highlighted precisely why donations are so important to the charity.

The stripped back design also housed strong ‘calls to action’ to participate, as well as donate. The design facilitated a feeling of great appreciation and acknowledgement, on behalf of the charity, for actively involved users.

Contra and Shortlist's partnership 

When Shortlist Media wanted assistance with this project, they approached Contra to act as technical partners in the creation of the new website. The client made clear that they were looking for a fast, efficient and reliable partner. Together, Shortlist Media and Contra formed a ‘virtual team’, with Shortlist Media producing the designs which Contra implemented. Crucially, Contra were able to successfully deliver the build within the requisite/short timeframe.

The competition was based on photography- users had to capture an interesting image of London at night, which could then be uploaded via the website.

Contra's effective technical decisions 

For Contra, WordPress was the most obvious choice for the site build, being the most cost- effective and simple solution to work with. Uploaded images were moderated by Shortlist Media before being published. The system facilitated automatic subscription to Mr Hyde emails for all entrants. The site also provided a subscription sign-up area, for people browsing the page.

Where did the idea for ‘Collective’ come from?

Collective was born out of a combination of factors, most importantly the existing gaming community that surrounded Square Enix. They are some of the best supporters any company could ask for, very active and always eager to get involved in providing feedback. Like all industry leaders, Square recognised that a great way to innovate and create fantastic products is to listen to those people who already love your product; your fans.

Secondly, with the global gaming world worth billions of pounds its easily to draw comparison to the movie industry. Just like the movie industry there are issues around funding, and more specifically the amazing innovators working on very small budgets. Currently, big budget games including those from Square Enix, dominate the market. So it’s difficult for those without the capital to get enough exposure to fund their games, even if they could be the next Final Fantasy.

An exciting key feature of this project is that Square Enix wanted to use their community to benefit independent game developers, instead of their own. A brave move to say the least. The end goal for the collective is for it to be a platform that helps the whole gaming industry evolve and make sure gamers get to play the best games ever.

What the chuff is Collective then, and how does it work?

The platform follows a simple four stage process that lead to the most supported games being crowdfunded and developed. The independent developers getting valuable support and guidance at every stage from the experience team at Square and the gaming community.

The four stages are:

In feedback: Developers put forward game ideas and the Square Enix collective community give their feedback on the idea and vote to send it through to the next stage

In funding: Game gets crowdfunded on Indigogo, with developers getting help from SquareEnix on how to pitch the idea.

In development: Game goes into full development stage 

Done: The game is released

The most important stage of the process is the first, it’s where the developers can see if the idea is worth pursuing. It signifies if the project will get the funding it needs to be able to complete development for release. Using the feedback to hone the idea before investing too much time and money. With a huge added bonus of exposure very early on, generating the fans who will be the very people who will fund the game and play it once released.

Top ten tips:

When compiling your initial list of recipients for your RFI, go for recommendations first; word of mouth/via your own network. Next look for agencies with relevant experience. Don’t ask your incumbent if they really have no chance!

When making your ‘first cut’ consider using a scoring matrix that you share in your RFI. It makes selection easier (you’ll be more likely to get ten ‘like for like’ responses). Next, get your list of pitching agencies down to no more than five.

Make clear to agencies what everyone on your side’s roles and responsibilities will be on the project. Nominate an overall ‘Project Owner’ at your end - it really, really helps!

Expect good agencies to interrogate your RFP and ask for relevant research, etc. Make time for all that.

Consider a User Centred Design (UCD) approach to your solution. Happy users help achieve your own business objectives and following a UCD process can produce results that strengthen the relationship between your brand/organisation and your users/customers.

Include KPIs for the project in your RFP. What will success look like and how will a project’s success be measured?

As mentioned above - time allows, hold ‘tissue sessions’ (to hear where the agencies are mid-pitch, to guide & bring clarity). Ditch any agency way off course at this stage if you have to.

Time: give agencies enough time to answer your RFP. Give your internal team enough time to assess each stage of a pitch. Don’t see too many agencies on the same day.

Be upfront about your budget range. Simple analogy: you want a car. Well, is it a Mini or Rolls Royce?

Beware ‘yes men’ who promise it all...especially if other agencies are shaking their heads. Listen to agencies when they say something can’t be realised for the time or budget you’ve allowed in your RFP. You want an agency with integrity...who can deliver what they outline at the pitch stage. Be prepared to make compromises...the most obvious being a phased approach.

In conclusion: