8 examples of immersive storytelling from university marketing teams

Universities are treasure troves of stories. From academic research and archival records, to alumni successes and vibrant campus communities, they have a wealth of material and messaging to share with the wider world.

Finding and sharing these stories is the work of university communications and marketing teams, who play a vital role in connecting with alumni, promoting staff research, and inspiring prospective students.

Too often, though, their initiatives are constrained by the tools at hand and limited communications resources. These could include legacy publishing systems, inflexible CMSs, and a lack of developer resources. As a result, their stories can appear drab, flat, and visually underwhelming — and thus fail to have any real impact.

And in such a competitive environment as higher education, impact is crucial to any digital strategy.

Looking for more examples of stunning digital stories? Check out our guide, 11 examples of impressive digital stories.

The power of immersive storytelling

Many of the world’s leading universities are changing how they tell stories on the web, and are embracing immersive, visually rich digital communications.

For them, the results are clear: longer engagement times, fewer bounces, better click-through rates, and better social media engagement. Digital stories produced by Imperial College London, for example, receive an average of 142% more unique page views and see 50% longer time on page.

Historically, digital stories have been prohibitively expensive for universities to produce, making it hard to meet strategic goals. They’ve required specialist in-house development and design teams able to create custom solutions for each story.

With digital storytelling platforms like Shorthand, though, it's now possible for strategists to create fully responsive and immersive visual stories, with no code required. This has made digital storytelling a ‘business as usual’ activity for university marketing teams.

To give you a sense of what’s possible, here are eight inspiring examples from comms teams building university brands around the world.

Showcasing brilliant student work

A laptop, mobile phone and tablet with the text "Caroline Cash is the Hottest Thing in Comics" on the screen. The laptop is open and the mobile phone is placed next to it, suggesting that the person in the image is a fan of the popular comic book series. The text on the laptop is likely referring to the series, which is known for its popularity and popularity., image

A laptop, tablet and phone with a comic strip on the screen. The laptop is on the left side of the image, with the tablet on the right side. The comic strip features cartoon images and text, and the background is a light pink color., image

The School of the Arts Institute of Chicago: ‘Caroline Cash is the hottest thing in comics’

In its ‘Caroline Cash is the hottest thing in comics’ digital magazine article, The School of the Arts Institute of Chicago (SAIC) entertains readers with some of the brilliant work of the article’s namesake.

With comic book excerpts, embedded social posts, and bespoke illustrations by Cash, the article showcases student work to its community — and boosts its appeal to other budding creatives who may be considering enrolment.

Leaning on big historic moments

A laptop, tablet and phone displaying a website design for Oregon News. The laptop is in the center of the image, with the tablet to its right and the phone to its left. The website design features a modern, sleek design with a blue and white color scheme. The text on the website reads "Oregon News" in bold, black font., image

A laptop, phone and tablet with a website design on the screen. The laptop is open and the phone is placed next to it, both of which are displaying the website design. The background of the image is a light pink color., image

University of Oregon: ‘Grateful Ducks offers a celebration of music and innovation’

‘Grateful Ducks offers a celebration of music and innovation’, from the University of Oregon, traces two very different stories of innovation from Eugene, Oregon: The Grateful Dead and Nike. It’s a tremendous piece of brand storytelling that centres the university as a hub and starting point.

It’s told in an immersive scrolling timeline, and branded in the University’s colours, making for an unforgettable brand asset.

Promoting campus discovery

A laptop, tablet and phone displaying a website design for the University College, London. The laptop is on the left side of the image, the tablet is in front of it, and the phone is to the right. The website design features a picture of a building and some text., image

A laptop, tablet and phone displaying a website design for a building. The laptop is in the center of the image, with a mobile phone to its right. The website design features text and images, likely related to the building., image

University College London: ‘Starring UCL’

In ‘Starring UCL’, University College London invites readers to explore venues around campus that have appeared in film and TV. It encourages readers to engage more deeply by spotting and recognising shots from their favourite shows and movies.

With examples ranging from Inception to Poirot, it transforms place, heritage, and community into something engaging and fun to explore.

Under the skin graphics

A laptop, phone and tablet with the words "Mission to the Sun" displayed on the screen. The laptop is open and the phone is placed next to it, suggesting that the person in the image is looking for information about the mission to the sun., image

A laptop, phone and tablet with a website design on the screen. The laptop is open and the phone is placed next to it, suggesting that the website design is being used. The text on the laptop screen is likely related to the website, providing further information about the website., image

Imperial College, London: 'Mission to the sun'

“We live inside a bubble blown by the Sun.” So begins this story about how researchers from Imperial College, London, built instruments used by the Solar Orbiter satellite.

Rich in stunning photography and interactive graphics, the story includes a powerful background video that explains how the sun’s solar winds interact with Earth’s magnetic field.

Shorthand’s HTML embed tool is used to place infographics into the story which come alive as the reader scrolls, as well as interactive charts for the reader to toggle.

Creating atmosphere

A laptop, mobile phone and tablet with the Icebreaker website open on the screen. The laptop is open to a page with text and an image of a boat on the water, while the mobile phone is placed next to it. The background of the image is a light pink color., image

A laptop, tablet and phone with a website design on the screen. On the laptop screen, there is a picture of a group of people in a boat, with the text "The University of Queensland Contact Magazine" displayed prominently. The people in the boat appear to be in a state of distress, with their arms outstretched and their faces contorted in anguish. The background of the image is a deep blue, with a few stars twinkling in the night sky., image

University of Queensland: 'Icebreaker'

Icebreaker tells the story of endurance athlete (and University of Queensland alumnus) Cameron Bellamy as he and five others took on The Impossible Row challenge.

The story features a clean design, punctuated with beautiful full-screen photography. The team uses Shorthand’s Scrollmation feature to represent the journey through Drake Passage.

History brought to life

A laptop, mobile phone and tablet with a pink and white website design on the screen. The laptop is open and the mobile phone is placed next to it, suggesting that the website design is for the University of Cambridge. The text on the laptop reads "Disaster at 37,000 Feet"., image

A laptop, tablet and phone sitting next to each other on a pink and cream colored surface. On the laptop screen, there is a book and a mobile phone, suggesting that the person in the image is learning how to read the book., image

The University of Cambridge: 'Disaster at 37,000 feet'

The University of Cambridge takes us back in time in this beautiful story about ballooning memorabilia on show at the university library.

Use of Shorthand’s Reveal feature lets the reader ‘flick’ through a series of newspaper cuttings, while posters are interspersed throughout — a simple but beautifully effective way of breathing life into the university’s exceptionally rich archives.

Shorthand is a success story for the University of Cambridge, with use of the tool now spread across multiple departments.

Collating video explainers

A laptop, mobile phone and tablet displaying a website design for a marine biodiversity organization. The laptop is open and the mobile phone is placed next to it, both displaying the website design. The website design is modern and sleek, with a blue and white color scheme. The text on the laptop and phone is clearly visible, making it easy to read and understand., image

A laptop, phone and tablet displaying a website design for a concert. On the laptop screen, there is an image of a group of people sitting on chairs, with some text visible. The background of the image is a light pink color., image

Aberdeen University: 'Sharing the benefits of the ocean'

Aberdeen University brings together a sequence of videos to explain the complex intersection of intellectual property and marine conservation.

It’s a great example of university researchers using Shorthand to enrich public discussion on a critically important — but potentially overwhelming — issue. The story also uses Shorthand’s HTML embed feature to insert a quiz into the narrative, inviting deeper interaction with the story.

Smart graphic design

A laptop, phone and tablet displaying a website design for a company. The laptop is on the left side of the image, the phone is in the middle, and the tablet is on top of it. The website design features a modern, sleek design with a blue and white color scheme., image

A laptop, phone and tablet with a website on the screen. The laptop is open and the phone is placed next to it. The website appears to be an emory innovators website, with text and images on the laptop's screen., image

Emory University: 'Innovation ecosystem'

In this piece, Emory University launches the Hatchery, its new centre for innovation.

Crisp, full-screen photography of the centre is delivered using Shorthand’s Reveal feature, providing a gentle fade between photos as the reader scrolls.

Reinventing the magazine

University communications and marketing teams — like the world's leading media companies and brands — are reaping the rewards of immersive visual storytelling.

Beyond engagement and campaign conversion metrics, these universities are presenting themselves as forward-thinking, digitally-savvy institutions, which is essential for attracting new students and building an engaged campus community.

Critically, they're able to do this without relying on developers — meaning that university comms and marketing teams can publish world-leading work without sacrificing their budgets.

If you’re at a university and want to get started with immersive digital storytelling, sign up to publish your first story.

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