Earlier this year, Keep Left and the University of Melbourne teamed up to shine a light on the University’s inspiring research. Through content marketing, we showcased the latest developments of their research to highlight the life-changing outcomes, made possible by the University of Melbourne.

For Keep Left, the challenge was to help Australians understand the real-world application of the University of Melbourne’s research and explore the ripple effect for individuals, communities and broader society.

The first of a series of stories, titled ‘Music as Medicine’, showcased how the University of Melbourne’s research into music therapy could improve the lives of people living with dementia. We worked closely with Professor Felicity Baker, Head of Music Therapy at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, to understand her role in leading the Australian arm of the world’s largest ever study into music therapy and dementia, currently underway.

The creative process began with data analytics. We completed a media audit to discover what was trending in the news, followed by a deep-dive into the world wide web to find search and social insights that would shape the campaign’s strategy. This involved looking at published content and analysing the social formats and channels that drove the most engagement.

After interviewing Professor Baker to discover how her project had evolved in the past 24 months, we created a compelling and emotive script that we filmed at a day centre in Victoria. It was live action, so the video crew had to capture authentic content while fitting seamlessly into the backdrop of an intimate music therapy session.

The result was a powerful suite of premium content including a 30-second hero video that explored the real-world outcomes of the research. Four shorter edits of the video were also created alongside various social assets including a series of Instagram Stories and Facebook Carousels.

The first phase of the campaign was a huge success with the team exceeding a number of campaign KPIs. In its first four weeks, Music as Medicine had close to 10 million impressions and nearly 2.5 million video views, with a view-through-rate of over 25%. Significantly, the social strategy resulted in over 95,000 clicks through to the University of Melbourne’s Pursuit website, where people could find out more about the research.

Authentic stories always resonate well. When tackling tough subject matter, always look for the human thread.