Uncovering FrontSeat

Case Study Overview

FrontSeat faced the challenge of creating a sustainable, executable, and replicable communication strategy. The HubO team believed that we could rise to this challenge and presented our proposal to FrontSeat.

The FrontSeat project has been launched to enhance the research and academic potential of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia (STUBA). Its ultimate goal is to transform it into a modern institution, widely recognized for its high-quality research in advanced automatic control. To achieve this, STUBA has teamed up with research groups from both the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany (RUB) and Pisa University, Italy (UNIPI).


The project has specific objectives that include strengthening ties with Western European research groups, intensifying research in advanced automatic control, establishing new academic and industrial collaborations, training outstanding researchers and project managers, and effectively sharing and leveraging STUBA’s research outcomes.


FrontSeat required assistance in designing a sustainable and replicable communication strategy to reach researchers interested in the field of advanced automatic control. HubO provided this support by helping them communicate their plans and successes effectively.


In order to achieve this, we had to:


💡 Develop a comprehensive brand guide
💡 Standardize brand communication across online and offline channels
💡 Design a biannual email newsletter
💡 Promote the Summer School event on social media
💡 Redesign the website to match the newly developed brand guide

Discovery Phase

Initially, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the project by engaging in extensive discussions with the FrontSeat team in Bratislava. Our aim was to comprehend their overall message, as well as where and how they intended to communicate their project.

After gathering all the information, we decided to start with the brand guide while keeping the project’s professional and educational tone in mind.



Brand Guide

While our color scheme was influenced by the existing logo, we introduced supplementary colors that complemented the logo, offering increased design versatility. Additionally, we adopted Radial for specific tasks and scenarios.

 

We set definitive guidelines for logo usage, as specified in the brand guide.

 

In terms of design elements, we explored different variations and used innovative approaches to create distinctive project-specific elements.

Offline marketing: The Roll-up Banner​ & Flyer

After receiving approval from all three universities for the brand guide, we were given the opportunity to implement the design principles we developed. Specifically, we were tasked with designing a roll-up banner for the FrontSeat project. This banner will be used at all seminars and conferences organized by the FrontSeat project. At the same time, we were asked to design a flyer that would be distributed to students and attendees of conferences where the FrontSeat project would be presented. One of those conferences was the IFAC World Congress in Yokohama, Japan.

E-mail marketing:
The FrontSeat Newsletter

The team behind the FrontSeat project had a new task at hand – sending out a biannual newsletter to the universities collaborating on the project and their interested audience. The purpose of the first newsletter was to introduce the project, its partners, scope, and provide an overview of previously held events, as well as plans for the upcoming year.

 

We had the opportunity to utilize the visual elements we designed for the brand guide and incorporate them into an email format. We created a unique email template that included the new colors and fonts. Additionally, we created a replicable newsletter structure that consisted of an introduction, a list of previous events, and a list of upcoming events. Each event was accompanied by photos, making the newsletter visually appealing. This design allows for easy updates and distribution whenever necessary.

We designed a custom email template for the FrontSeat project that is compatible with their Newsletter WordPress plugin. Along with creating the design and content, we also handled the distribution of the email to their contact list.

Social Media Marketing:
Promoting “The FrontSeat Summer School on Embedded Optimal Control”

After designing and sending out the newsletter, FrontSeat approached us to prepare a promotional campaign for their upcoming event. 

Our task was to figure out:

  • What marketing channels to use
  • How long should the promotional campaign last
  • What type of promotion to use (paid/organic)
  • What type of content should we create
Considering that the FrontSeat project is mainly active on Facebook, we decided to launch a Facebook campaign along with a one-time email announcement for FrontSeat’s subscribers.   We created 10 different Facebook posts aimed at
  • Introducing the project
  • Introducing the event
  • Introducing the speakers
  • Information about the event location
  • Information about the program and any extra-activities planned for the attendees

We ran the campaign for the entire month of June. Our strategy involved using only organic posts, as we aimed to reach a very specific and narrow audience. Our objective was not to attract people outside of this audience, but rather to inform our existing followers about the upcoming event.

Redesigning the FrontSeat's website

At this point, we had already redesigned the project’s communication both offline and online, but there was one more online channel that remained to be updated. We approached the FrontSeat team with a proposal to redesign their website, which still had the old logo, colors, fonts, and visual elements.

 

By adhering to the visual guidelines in the brand guide, we created a sleeker website that reflects the modern, technologically advanced concept of the FrontSeat project.

Development-wise, there haven’t been many changes. The website is built on WordPress, so we made the necessary design changes within the platform. Although it was just a redesign and the changes we made to the website were not extensive, the outcome is a significantly improved website in terms of appearance and navigation. We used consistent brand visuals and colors used by the FrontSeat team to make it easier to navigate and enhance the overall user experience.

Conclusion​

The goal of our cooperation with FrontSeat was to create and maintain a consistent brand identity across both online and offline communication channels.

FrontSeat now boasts a memorable and distinctive brand, making it easily recognizable. Their communication is unified, the design elements easy to use across all of their channels and they can continue doing remarkable work and high quality research without worrying about how to present it to their audience.

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