How UTK Honors Program turned real student stories into its strongest recruitment tool
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a leading public research university, with its University Honors ranked No. 8 nationwide by College Transitions in 2026. Since partnering with ZC Productions in February 2025, UTK has replaced generic overview content with cinematic, story-driven video that finally captures what it feels like to be an Honors student on campus.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Higher Education – Honors Program
Knoxville, TN
Main Campus
Video Production
Partnership since February 2025
Interviews Conducted
Full Production Days
Videos Produced
University Honors Ranking Nationwide
The Challenge
Generic Overview
UTK’s Honors programs were nationally competitive and ranked among the best in the country — but the video content representing them didn’t reflect that. Traditional overview videos weren’t built for a younger, digital-first audience that decides how a place feels in seconds, not paragraphs. UTK needed a way to show prospective students and their families what the Honors experience actually felt like, not just describe it.
The Strategy
Real Voices, No Script
ZC’s approach rejected the generic overview video from the start. Instead of narrating UTK’s Honors programs from the outside, the strategy was to build the entire project around authentic voices — students, alumni, faculty, and staff speaking for themselves — and let cinematic B-roll carry the atmosphere around them. The goal was emotional connection first, information second.
- Strategic discovery to identify the strongest stories to feature
- 25+ interviews with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and program leadership
- Four full days of cinematic B-roll across UTK’s campus and Honors communities
- Three distinct videos built from a single production window
The Execution
Four Days, Three Programs
ZC’s team conducted more than 25 interviews, including current Honors students, alumni, faculty, staff, and Jim Haslam, founder of the Haslam Leadership Scholars (HALS) program. Those interviews became the emotional backbone of the project — real perspectives, not scripted talking points.
Over four full production days in a tight spring semester window, the team captured extensive B-roll across Honors classes, events, and living and learning communities, working within a hard deadline to wrap before the academic year ended. From that footage, ZC built three distinct videos: a comprehensive Honors overview, a dedicated piece on the Chancellor’s Honors Program, and a focused video on the Haslam Leadership Scholars program — each edited for a modern, attention-scarce audience.
The Results
UTK now has a set of visual assets built specifically to convert — a clear, emotionally engaging look at the Honors experience that was missing from recruitment marketing before. The videos live on UTK’s website as a cornerstone of Honors recruitment, giving prospective students and families a reason to see themselves there.
18%
Increase in Honors Applications
64%
Average Video Completion Rate
+3:40
Average Time on Honors Recruitment Pages
