ERI Takes Viddy Platinum for WOOLife Video

Prestigious “Viddy” Platinum Award For ‘Short Form Video’ Goes To Worcester State University and Digital Marketing Agency, ERI

Sharing authentic moments, “WooState” students
show some love for their university

WORCESTER, MA—A short video produced for Worcester State University by the web development and digital marketing agency, ERI, has been awarded top honors in the 2022 VIDDY Awards. The prestigious international competition, administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), has recognized “WOOLife” with a Viddy Platinum for “Best Short Videos” in the Education category.

At just one minute and fourteen seconds long, the video is presented on Worcester State’s new website, which was also designed and developed by ERI. Featuring quick cuts of unrehearsed, “direct-to-camera,” close-up shots of students, what starts out with shy expressions steadily evolves into a warm and joyful expression of enthusiasm for the university as the background music builds and the editing quickens. The result is a light, fun, and highly relatable introduction to WooState’s diverse community of students.

Directed and co-produced by Raffi DerSimonian, ERI’s Chief Strategy Officer, and shot and edited by video production company, p3 Maine, the short video is part of a suite of new videos featured on the Worcester.edu website. “​​The concept for this video was hatched through some creative problem-solving with one of our favorite collaborators, Morgan Myer of p3 Maine,” said Raffi DerSimonian. “One of our challenges involved rebranding Worcester State’s student web portal, moving away from MyWSU, and moving toward MyWooState.

We encouraged this transition for several reasons, but most importantly, because ‘WooState’ conveys a more distinct brand personality and unique ‘sense of place’ than ‘WSU’, an acronym that is shared by several other institutions.”

Combining thoughtful creative strategies, sophisticated digital communications, and expertise in the art of visual storytelling have been at the center of ERI’s work with dozens of colleges and universities.

“We’re so proud to have our outstanding students personally share their love of Worcester State with others who want to learn more about our university,” said Maureen Stokes, Worcester State University’s Assistant Vice President of Communications and Marketing. “Working with the ERI team to tell our story and bring it all together in what is now a highly engaging, video-rich website, is really rewarding for us.”

ERI, with offices in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine, has been designing award-winning websites and creative storytelling content for higher ed institutions and other organizations for more than 15 years. As part of the firm’s complete redesign of the Worcester State website, launched in summer of 2022, ERI also produced a number of videos to help bring the student voice to the forefront on the institution’s main website. The short “WOOLife” video is one small, yet effective, part of that work.

“Our collaborative partnerships with client teams have brought really exciting results,” said Erjon Metohu, ERI’s President and Chief Creative Officer. “Our work with Worcester State shows the quality and effectiveness of creative and technical work that can be built with great teamwork to meet ambitious goals.”