State apprenticeship website design, branding, video and animation for a rapidly growing program
The ApprenticeshipNH program is a grant-funded effort led by the Community College System of New Hampshire to encourage more New Hampshire companies to offer apprenticeships. We were awarded a competitive grant to create a localized brand and market the effort. In addition to a new logo, color scheme and a plethora of print and tradeshow materials, we produced a video showcasing the role community colleges play in developing apprenticeship programs.
What We Did
- Branding
- Website design
- Public relations
- Video production
- Print and digital collateral
Logo design and branding
What people find most attractive about the Apprenticeship model is that it enables individuals to combine classroom learning with on-the-job experiential learning. We boiled this down to a simple concept – Earn/Learn – and used this to help brand New Hampshire’s program. It quickly resonated when introduced in 2017 and has had staying power as the program has grown over the years to serve more businesses, employers and business sectors. All program materials carry consistent messaging and look and feel based on specific brand guidelines that have helped the program gain significant recognition across the state.
This bright, energetic look clearly put the focus on the call to action. As a result, the brand and website garnered national recognition by Apprenticeship USA.
Website design
The main goals of the apprenticeship program website are to entice potential apprentices and employers to learn more, provide detailed information and make it easy for users to find opportunities in their field of interest. We developed a user-friendly, mobile-responsive apprenticeship website that highlights success stories from both apprentices and companies. The program’s web presence has garnered national attention and has set the standard for other state apprenticeship websites.
“If you are looking for ideas or examples for promoting and marketing apprenticeship, you will definitely want to check New Hampshire’s new apprenticeship website out.”
Video production
We worked with local videographer NYRPhoto to produce a short video focused on the role that the community colleges play in developing New Hampshire apprenticeships. Through a series of interviews and b-roll shot at Manchester Community College, we produced a marketing piece that has been instrumental in improving the program’s social marketing, website design and presentations.
Animation
We worked with New Sky Productions to develop this promotional explainer animation highlighting the benefits of apprenticeship for individuals.
Public relations and communications
Cookson Communications rolled the program out through PR and regional events held at each community college. As the program grew and matured, we captured and promoted case studies, promoted the annual awards and recognition program and helped place op-eds to draw further interest. As the program expanded to new sectors, we revisited this promotional model each time, drawing out fresh partnerships and success stories.
Print and digital collateral
Over our long-term partnership, we’ve developed multiple print pieces including sell sheets, a welcome kit for apprentices, a toolkit for employers, event materials, print ads, banners and stationery. We created digital ads, email marketing templates and social posts for use by the staff.
Cookson helped us build brand recognition and attractive, professional materials that helped our new program stand out. The staff listen to our feedback and have taken care to learn about our goals, but they also lend their expertise to help us move forward. It’s cliché but we don’t know what we’d do without them!
Emily Zeien
ApprenticeshipNH Grant Manager
