Queen's Mining Online: Brand and Recruitment
Developing a fresh brand and recruitment campaigns for the Queen's Mining Department's online offerings.
Overview
As part of our engagement with the Robert N. Buchan Department of Mining, Fractal was tasked with developing a brand and positioning for the Department’s online offerings, as well as planning and executing a recruitment campaign to drive enrollment.
These offerings included newly developed professional development courses, custom corporate training packages, and the Certificate in Mining Technologies. Queen’s aimed to expand its reach beyond traditional audiences by creating professional development offerings for a broader spectrum of learners, including professionals in adjacent sectors and a range of individuals within the mining engineering field.
Project Scope
Objectives
Branding Transformation
Brand Awareness
Recruitment
Services
Stakeholder Consultations
Market Research
Branding & Positioning
Creative Development
Go-to-Market Planning
Timeline
2020-2022
The Challenge
Queen’s Mining has a long and storied history spanning over 125 years and is consistently ranked among the top 10 mining schools in the world. The challenge was to translate this history and depth of expertise into a brand for online courseware that could appeal to a broader audience.
This included not only mining engineers, technicians, and project managers, but also professionals in related fields such as finance, law, human resources, and economics. This work began before the widespread shift to online education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Solution
Following consultations with faculty and departmental leadership, the result was Queen’s Mining Online. This lightweight brand was designed to align with existing departmental and faculty identities while expanding the reach and relevance of the programs.
For each course offering, distinct though often overlapping audience segments were identified, and messaging was tailored to address their specific needs and priorities. This included corporate clients seeking training packages, professional development opportunities, or custom course design.
What We Did
Brand Identity
The Queen's Mining Online lightweight brand was designed to align with existing departmental and faculty identities while expanding the reach and relevance of the programs. Through web and advertising copy, targeted content marketing, video, and sample courseware, the brand conveyed Queens' technical expertise and academic strength to deliver a world-class mining education.
Go-To-Market Strategy
Fractal developed comprehensive go-to-market strategies that included content calendars, tactical plans, and messaging matrices. These tools mapped each channel and ad unit to specific audience segments and campaign objectives, depending on where users were in the marketing funnel. Key messages were also broken down and aligned with funnel stages to ensure consistency and clarity across touchpoints.
Creative Development
Our creative concepts illustrated that Queen’s is deeply connected to the mining industry and focused on solving real-world problems, from waste remediation to social and environmental challenges, and also has the capacity, experience and dedicated courseware development team needed to deliver high-quality online programs that match the impact of in-person learning.
The Results
Fractal's market research and tailored go-to-market plans for international audiences surfaced and reflected growing global interest in Canadian mining expertise. This work helped the department reach professionals and organizations abroad who were seeking access to world-class training in mining engineering disciplines. The result was a flexible, adaptive campaign architecture that allowed the department to respond quickly to changes in the market and position itself for long-term growth.
Ongoing Support and Adjustment
In addition to structured planning, Fractal remained responsive to evolving client needs. As demand for particular courses shifted and new market opportunities emerged, the strategy was adjusted accordingly. This included supporting the department in identifying and targeting new audiences, both domestically and internationally.
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