VUWSA, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association, exists to make sure students get the education, experience, community, and facilities they deserve. From advocacy at Parliament to running legendary on-campus events, they’re all about improving life at Te Herenga Waka.
Many students didn’t know who VUWSA was, or why they mattered. They wanted to boost awareness and build stronger engagement across campus.
To reach Gen Z, we knew a traditional approach wouldn’t cut it. Instead, we met students where they already spend time, TikTok and Instagram, and built content that felt like it came from them, not at them
The strategy was simple: make it entertaining, relatable, and rooted in the quirks of Wellington student life.
We developed recurring series that quickly became staples of VUWSA’s social channels. ‘Flat Tours’ gave a cheeky inside look into the realities of student living, while ‘Guessing Your Degree Based on Your Fit’ tapped into campus culture with humour that only students would get. Both formats showed the value of consistent content creation and smart social media management, not just chasing one-off hits, but creating content that students could expect and look forward to each week.
Another highlight was a campus interview asking graduates to reveal their student loan balances. The raw honesty and relatability of that moment struck a chord, pulling nearly 40,000 views on Instagram and more than 63,000 on TikTok. Videos like this have been central to the strategy, proving how powerful on-campus content can be when it’s both entertaining and rooted in real student experiences, working to amplify the student voice - what VUWSA is all about.
4.2M
increase in followers in a 9 month period
557%
views across social
The results spoke for themselves in only 9 months, across Instagram and TikTok, VUWSA’s organic content generated more than:
4.2 million views,
over 100,000 total content interactions (likes, shares, comments, saves, and reposts),
and their Instagram following grew by 3,100 (a 557% increase)
The content is honest and relatable, fizzing with the kind of humour and energy that fresh-faced students have. More importantly, it strengthened the sense of belonging on campus: amplifying student voices and uniting students; reinforcing VUWSA’s role as the advocate and representative body for every student at Te Herenga Waka.
Working with Sea Digital this year has been an incredible experience for VUWSA. Their expertise and creativity have helped us strengthen our social media strategy, grow our audience, and deliver more engaging and meaningful content to students.
Our collaboration with Amelia, in particular, has been a real highlight. Her guidance and support have not only helped refine VUWSA’s online presence but have also personally helped me develop my own social media and communications skills. Having that direct relationship and mentoring has made a real difference in how we approach content, storytelling, and digital engagement.We saw a huge lift in engagement throughout the year — especially during our election campaign — where Sea Digital’s strategy and insight helped us connect with students in new and exciting ways.
Sea Digital’s genuine understanding of our kaupapa and their ability to bring that to life online has been outstanding. I’d highly recommend them to any organisation looking to grow their impact and deepen their connection with their audience.
