The Institute for Trade Skills Excellence needed an innovative approach aimed at elevating the status of trade skills, trade teachers and changing the attitudes of a generation so that young people and career-changers might consider a future in trades and vocational areas, not just university-based fields.

 

The project needed to reach out to a number of stakeholders such as industry and employers, not just students and career advisors. It needed to be more memorable than an advertising campaign as The Institute was seeking a way to inform and inspire.

 

Most challenging of all, the initiative needed to change community attitudes to taking up a trade skill, while building an asset for The Institute which would be able to generate future revenue.

 

Traditional advertising was cast aside in favour of a fully integrated multi-platform concept that could raise the profile of trade skills through information, entertainment and a focus on the lives of passionate people.

Our team created a television and broadband web brand: SkillsOne, as the vehicle for delivering branded television programming and thousands of video resources accessible on the web 24 hours a day.

Brand design, broadcast graphics and online design were conceptualised and briefed. Our design partners at Studio Cream worked with us closely through the first few months of the project.

 

In the first year, we produced 864 hours of television for Australian cable (Aurora 183) and approximately 6000 minutes for www.skillsone.com.au

Programming has also aired on the SkyBusiness Channel and is available by podcast.

Working in collaboration with The Institute and their partners was critical in delivering innovation to SkillsOne web users each week. This included working with CareerOne, News Ltd’s job site giant, to deliver videos to their site while providing job search tools to SkillsOne visitors.

Working with EOC, Australia’s largest career expo company, users now have access to the graphically rich 24/7 SkillsOne Career Expo service.

 

On relatively modest budgets and small team sizes compared to traditional television, SkillsOne has created a highly marketable asset worth several million dollars for The Institute. Now in it’s second year, The Institute will begin commercialising the content we have produced.

 

As a vertical content site focusing on trade skills, SkillsOne has managed to attract thousands of potential apprentices and existing tradespeople to a previously-buried subject matter.

 

At the same time, SkillsOne has raised awareness about the skills shortage and the need for people to find jobs in areas they are passionate about. Until now, many people in trades and vocations never discussed their passion for trades openly and were never celebrated.

Industry and trainers have also responded strongly with many of them embedding SkillsOne videos on their sites for students, referring to SkillsOne in presentations, articles, blogs and newspapers.

In just 15 months, SkillsOne has attracted over 1.5 million page views, half a million video viewings and 8,000 regular

e-news recipients. Steady monthly growth continues to drive interest, interaction and loyalty through the fresh, useful video tools and resources available to careers advisors and students.