"Turn Over a New You" Campaign: Crafting Success in a Crisis
The national health crisis exposed a critical need for the education and workforce development divisions of the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) to unify messaging and illuminate a clear path forward for career programs. Tasked with this challenge, I turned what could have been another boring stock campaign in the midst of a global pandemic into a fun and engaging campaign that would resonate with potential students across the state.
Directing the Vision
Working closely with my creative director, I played a central role in shaping the visual details of this campaign. After a year of using stock photos and videos, I suggested we do something different for this campaign to help it stand out, and she agreed. We talked about concepts that could work with the “Turn Over a New You” campaign slogan and settled on a faceless shoot to avoid masks, giving the campaign longevity. When the idea of hands moving blocks was suggested, I had the perfect idea — stop motion. Animating photos had an added bonus because our designers could use the same full resolution images that were in the still ads, adding to the unity of the campaign.
With concept in hand, I leveraged my experience creating short stop motion ads to determine the optimal frame rate and coordinated a one-day shoot with a paid actor and a few crew mates as hand models. This stop motion shoot laid the foundation for a visually compelling video which brought the campaign's theme to life.
Stop Motion Magic
Collaborating with our animator, we transformed the stop motion photos into a vibrant, visually striking video. The incorporation of a distinctive graphical style added a unique flair to the campaign. The success of this video prompted a second run a year later that featured more stop motion sequences that I storyboarded and shot, attesting to the campaign's enduring appeal.
Resonating Across the State
The "Turn Over a New You" campaign resonated with the target audience, reaching over 4 million total campaign impressions. The results were outstanding—600,000+ total YouTube views with a remarkable 43% completed video view rate, surpassing industry averages by 20%. From digital and social ads to video and radio spots, this campaign inspired underemployed and unemployed residents throughout North Carolina to embark on a transformative educational journey. Directing the creation of video and radio spots for Youtube and Spotify respectively, I orchestrated a compelling narrative that presented a stress-free path for students to acquire industry-recognized credentials.
In a time of crisis, directing the "Turn Over a New You" campaign was a journey in crafting hope and opportunity.
