SOAS wins gold for most effective use of social media at HEIST awards
SOAS’s social media content was celebrated as “an outstanding example of social media done exceptionally well” at this year’s HEIST awards, the premier event for recognising excellence and innovation in UK higher education marketing and student recruitment.
SOAS marketing and comms team was awarded gold, the top prize, for its SOAS Explains and Meet the Academics campaigns in the ‘Most Effective Use of Social Media’ category. In awarding the prize, the judging panels said: “…this campaign brought academic expertise to life through accessible, engaging and platform-native content. Judges praised its ability to connect complex topics with contemporary trends, creating genuine thumb-stopping content while delivering impressive results and strengthening female representation.”
...genuine thumb-stopping content while delivering impressive results and strengthening female representation.
SOAS Explains shares SOAS perspectives on global issues and culture, and Meet Our Academics provides insights into our teaching disciplines and departments. They enable academics to reach new audiences and prospective students in a fun and accessible way. At a time of changing media consumption habits and a competitive student recruitment landscape, both series spotlight SOAS's distinctive research and inspiring academics to new audiences.
The academic contributions nominated for this category included Professor Rachel Harrison’s analysis on The White Lotus, Professor Marloes Janson discussing the word ‘Voodoo’, Dr Sophie Chamas applying social reproduction theory to Paris Paloma’s song ‘Labour’, Dr Marie Rodet on Minecraft and colonial coding, Dr Paul Giladi on whether Squid Game is a mirror to capitalism and Professor Lindiwe Dovey in the Meet Our Academics series.
Tawnya Cheatheam, Director of Marketing, Student Recruitment, Admissions and Communications, said: “We’re incredibly proud of this achievement. Given that all our social media content is produced in-house by our comms and marketing teams, this recognition is especially meaningful, and it is even more impressive to have won gold while competing against some of the UK’s leading universities."
She added: “SOAS has many powerful and thought-provoking stories to tell, and we are excited to continue supporting our brilliant experts to share their knowledge and perspectives on the world in ways that feel timely, accessible and relevant.
“A key to the success of our social media content is the very strong relationships that have built up between our academics, and members of the comms and marketing teams. That collaborative approach is unique to the way we do things at SOAS."
Khadir Meer, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Finance & Operations) added: “Congratulations to everyone involved. It is fantastic to see SOAS’s academic expertise brought to life so creatively and effectively on social media. I have really enjoyed seeing these campaigns connect with audiences in such an engaging way, and I look forward to seeing what comes next.”
