King's TikTok case study wins 2nd Communications Award

The research plan and implementation of King’s TikTok account, along with its continued success, has earned accolades from the two major communications associations in Canada: the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS), Hamilton Chapter and the London chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

On June 23, 2021, the communications case study and implementation of the plan, “TikTok for Post-Secondary Communication,” earned a Virtuoso Award of Excellence from the IABC Virtuoso Awards. The award was presented by the London chapter to King’s Communications for its entry into the category of social media communications.

The communications case study for TikTok previously received the Silver Pinnacle Award in the Communications Project: Digital/Social/Multi-Media category. It was awarded to the King’s Communications team as part of the #elevatePR conference at CPRS Hamilton on March 31, 2021.

The submissions included the TikTok research and communications plan, developed during the Summer 2020 by three Communications interns: Dina Ibdah and Chloe Balmer of Fanshawe College’s Graduate Certificate in Public Relations and Corporate Communications program and Farnaz Kouchaki of the Marketing Post-Degree Diploma program of Western’s Continuing Studies. The interns researched the use of TikTok, especially among other institutions of higher learning across Canada, and made recommendations about the introduction and use of the platform for King’s specifically.

A second team of interns continued working on the TikTok communications in Winter 2021. Kellie McCarney of Fanshawe College and Debesree Saha of Western University built on the plan by adding in TikTok communications for Intent to Register, Open House and more. A third group of Interns, Yichen Fang and Jansen Otten of Western University, supervised by Digital Content Coordinator Ryan Robinson, added in more TikTok content in Spring 2021 regarding Residence, Admissions, the Progress Pride flag and celebrating our graduates.

The King’s Communications team, including Chantal Quagliara, Nikki Sasso Mitchell, John Milner and Jane Antoniak were invited to present their TikTok case study to their colleagues at Fanshawe College communications. Fanshawe has now started their own TikTok channel.

King’s has implemented this emerging social media platform as a way to engage future and current students with events and initiatives taking place within the King’s community in a fun and whimsical fashion. It complements our other social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Snapchat.

Elizabeth Hauspie ’21 worked with the King’s Communications department in 2020-2021. She was the Student Social Media Squad Leader and is an alumna of Disability Studies and Thanatology. Hauspie worked with King’s Digital Content Coordinator Chantal Quagliara to create and post content to TikTok. Former Communications work-study student Amer Ajjawi, 4th year College transfer, also assisted in the TikTok content development. Quagliara has supervised the overall implementation of TikTok for King’s. For Hauspie it was an exciting learning opportunity as well as a job.

“I cannot believe that I have had the chance to work alongside my amazing team members of Communications to get the King’s TikTok up and running. I think it has been a valuable opportunity to be involved in this process during COVID as TikTok has had the ability to bring everyone together in the virtual realm,” says Hauspie.

King’s Communications has worked with Interns from Western and Fanshawe for more than eight years, creating a win-win experience for both the interns and King’s as interns and staff learn from one another.

“We are so proud of the amazing practicum experience that King’s consistently provides to our students in our post-degree diplomas in Public Relations and Marketing. The students are able to practice real communications competencies and hone their skills to achieve excellence – which is evidenced by this award. The strong mentorship and guidance of Jane Antoniak, King’s Director of Communications, is invaluable to the student’s future career,” says Katrina McIntosh, Work Integrated Learning Coordinator at Western’s Continuing Studies.

The King’s TikTok account now has over 358 followers with thousands of views and more than 1500 likes on more than four dozen videos.

The most popular post (to date) was posted on March 6, 2021. It featured Hauspie asking viewers to “Tell me you go to King’s without telling me you go to King’s.” The post has over 4000 views and over 130 likes.

Dr. David Malloy, King’s Principal, has also helped to promote the popularity of the King’s by recording a sea-shanty as a way to lift the spirits of the King’s community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Posted on January 21, 2021, it has become the one of the most popular post on the King’s TikTok account with over 2300 views and over 135 likes.