Pickle Jar’s creative Christmas communications round-up 2016
As education institutions and associations being to shut down for the festive period, we’ve put together a quick highlight reel of some of the different communications tactics used by those in the sector this Christmas.
Snowballs of fun on Snapchat
In case you’ve lived in a dark hole this year, Snapchat has gotten pretty big, with over 150 million of its users logging in daily. With so many people in the sector now using it to reach their audience, we knew we’d come across some Christmas content on the channel.
Newcastle University have been experimenting (literally) with some innovative Christmas-themed content. In this Snapchat story they show students how science can help you make your own snow.
At the other end of the country, Loughborough University ran a wintery photo competition, asking students to send in different shots each day that capture the magic of Christmas at university.
Making dazzling research festive
Not only does this tree look beautiful, it’s got a story of fantastic research behind it. Lancaster University has used some of their latest research on technologically upgraded fairy lights to decorate one of the trees on campus.
We love the smart tree outside @InfoLab21 and @SCC_Lancaster! https://t.co/wt4WKCparW #InfoLabTree #LoveLancaster pic.twitter.com/EFkEDe3HmF
— Lancaster University (@LancasterUni) December 13, 2016
Christmas quality video
We’ve all probably seen a few mannequin challenges by now, but the University of Glasgow caught the attention of the press when they created this special Christmas edition. Fabulously executed and well thought-out, this video shows off the gorgeous campus where the university is set. It’s hard not be impressed when you see that it’s racked up over a quarter of a million views.
Beautiful seasonal scenery
The world we live in is truly spectacular. Especially with a dusting of snow. So don’t ignore what’s outside – grab your phone and capture what your location is like in the winter. Study in Sweden’s student content creator has captured this lovely image of how it looks Linköping in December which is making us all want to book flights to Sweden ASAP.
Here’s that perfect dusting of snow again. This time, Indiana University have created a simple gif of snowflakes falling onto their lovely campus. Easy and effective – they managed to gain over 1,200 likes for this quick post.
Current status: 🌨 pic.twitter.com/Y9QpZTtXZ2
— IU Bloomington (@IUBloomington) December 13, 2016
Home comfort care packages
Students on exchange programs might be missing a Christmas away from home for the first time, but St Mary’s University in London have got their students covered by sending out these homely Christmas comforts.
We're sending out a little home comforts present to all our St Mary's students studying abroad overseas. We hope you like chocolate! 🎁🎄 pic.twitter.com/5sMJvfndAa
— St Mary's Worldwide (@StMarysLondonUK) December 12, 2016
Spreading the alumni sparkle
Our universities help shape our future leaders, world changers and creators. We love this Medium post from City, University of London which celebrates all the wonderful creations of their alumni, and helps us with out Christmas stocking fillers, too. I’ve got my eye on a bottle of that wine…
Festive flashbacks
University of the Arts London has been using their Christmas countdown to celebrate the30th anniversary oftheir colleges joining together in 1986. This Instagram video shows us archive clips and interesting info on their historic beginnings.
All singing all dancing Christmas campaigns
We are strong... “Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky” | Sonia Gandhi#FridayFeeling #ARUXmas pic.twitter.com/ARn203lIHW
— ARU (@AngliaRuskin) December 9, 2016
Photo tree, online social media hub and high-quality glossy video: #ARUXmas is the campaign with it all. Anglia Ruskin has built a campaign around the strong community at the University and the concept of coming together during the festive period. Their travelling tree moved to each campus to capture the spirit across the university.
Online greeting card with a twist
I know this is another example from Newcastle University, but we’re not biased. Promise. Showing off their internationalism, this spinning globe bauble is a treasure trove of wintery/Christmas images contributed by staff, alumni and students.
Did we miss anything in our round-up? Anything you’re particularly proud of creating this Christmas? Or maybe you created something special for those who don’t celebrate Christmas? We’d love to know! If you need help sculpting your next campaign, we’re here to assist you with your next challenge.