Schwarzman Scholars

China’s economy is now the largest in the world. The country has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty since 1990. China contributes 30% of the total global CO2 emissions but has invested three times as much in renewable energy than the rest of the world. It’s probably safe to say that if China will indelibly shape the future of global economic, energy, environmental, and government policy, it might be smart to play nice.

That’s at least how billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman sees things. But he doesn’t just want the future generation to know a few key statistics; he wants them to experience China: how it feels to live, eat, study, make friends, build communities, and build bridges. So, naturally, he did what any other billionaire philanthropist would do: he built a college designed to encourage international cultural interchange in the heart of China.

The program would be a comprehensive, 1-year intensive, with 100 graduating students receiving a Masters in Global Affairs. To get the best young minds in the world to apply, p3 was tapped to developed a campaign of video content for the inaugural class. The client wanted content that reflected the brand: a school that was serious, competitive, rigorous and exciting. Our first task was to help concept, board, produce (Beijing, London and NYC in 10 days!) and edit an overview video used to inform prospective student applicants.

Once the cohort was selected, we went back to Beijing twice more in 2016 to begin capturing the day-to-day experiences of the inaugural class. All this content needed to be do some heavy lifting – geotargeted, short-form cutdowns to boost applications for the following year…

… short-form email video content to inform and educate donors of the program’s success…

… and longer-form content that educated parents and would-be applicants about the ins-and-outs of the program for their Facebook page and website.

By the beginning of 2017, with 2nd-year cohort already looking to apply, applications tripled.

The College looked forward to 2017 to build on the success of 2016 and help maintain relevance for the brand. We engaged a new discovery process: what did 2016 teach us about the cohort, the applicants, the College, and China? We determined we needed nuanced content that carefully articulated the voices of the Scholars. By focusing on Scholar stories, we illuminated the diversity of the cohort and the unique relationships they make over a year.

p3 continues to travel to Beijing and help the College build campaigns year over year, with 12+ deliverables each year…with plenty of dumplings in between.