From the Nominator

McMaster University’s “Expert Explainer Series” simplifies complex topics and makes them easily understandable and engaging for our audiences. The videos, posted on Instagram, feature McMaster experts showcasing the breadth and depth of the university's knowledge base. The series began as a Faculty of Health Sciences venture, but expanded to other faculties across campus. Our content strategy involves selecting relevant topics, crafting engaging hooks, and tailoring content on Instagram to maximize audience engagement. This series serves a dual purpose: to promote accurate and accessible information, while also reinforcing McMaster as a trusted source of truth amid social media misinformation. Topics ranged from cannabis to entrepreneurship to bones on Halloween. The goal of this initiative was to position McMaster researchers as experts in their respective fields, while giving our audiences the knowledge and skills they need to make a transformative impact on the world. This video series was instrumental in a partnership between the Faculty of Health Sciences and YouTube Health Canada, with the shared goal of ensuring access to high-quality health information for everyone. The series also greatly helped build relationships between communicators at the university. We have had researchers express interest in taking part in the series, and we successfully worked with three faculties on this series in 2023.

From the Judges

This Instagram reels campaign did a wonderful job finding its target audience and curating content for them. The quality and information conveyed was excellent.