2 Audiences, 2 Approaches: Making Standards Stick with ASQA

Sometimes the best way to change an industry is to remind everyone what good looks like.

Our straight-talking video campaign for the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) cut through the noise to protect students and challenge providers to step up their game.

When regulatory messaging needs to stick, engagement beats reach every time.

This targeted approach proved that the right content, delivered to the right audience with the right voice, creates meaningful impact even with focused budgets.

The Brief

The vocational education sector had a problem. Students were getting ripped off by dodgy providers, while good providers struggled to stand out.

With new 2025 Standards for RTOs rolling out, ASQA faced a dual challenge.

They needed to arm students with knowledge to make informed decisions and report bad operators, while simultaneously inspiring quality providers to see these changes as competitive opportunities rather than bureaucratic burdens.

The mission was clear: Teach students to spot bad practice and know their rights, while showing providers that quality isn’t just good karma, it’s good business that drives real competitive advantage.

The Audience

Students: Vulnerable learners needing protection from dodgy providers.

Education Providers: Industry decision-makers who can drive quality improvements.

Two different stakeholders, two different needs.

The Approach

We created two no-nonsense videos that spoke directly to each audience, recognising that regulatory change requires different messaging for different stakeholders.

For Students, the focus was empowerment through knowledge.

We showed them what high-quality education looks like, how to identify when providers are cutting corners or exploiting students, and most importantly, how to report concerns to ASQA when things go wrong.

The goal was building confidence in their ability to make informed decisions and protect themselves.

For Providers, the message centred on opportunity rather than obligation.

The 2025 Standards weren’t positioned as regulatory red tape, but as a pathway to competitive differentiation.

Quality training wasn’t just about compliance, it was about building reputation, attracting better students, and establishing market leadership in an increasingly competitive sector.

No jargon and no bureaucratic waffle. Just clear, actionable advice that each audience could immediately apply to their situation.

The Message

Each video used carefully chosen voices and delivery methods to match audience psychology and communication preferences.

The student video featured a supportive female voice paired with clear animated visuals that guided viewers step-by-step through the process of protecting themselves.

The animation helped visualise complex concepts like identifying quality training and understanding student rights.

It concluded with a direct call-to-action encouraging students to report incidents to ASQA, making the pathway to protection crystal clear.

The provider video took a different approach entirely, using an authoritative male voice that commanded attention from industry decision-makers.

Rather than focusing on compliance requirements, it positioned the new standards as business opportunities, ways to innovate, differentiate, and build competitive advantage through genuine quality improvements.

This dual approach recognised a fundamental truth about regulatory communication: Different audiences need different motivation.

Students need support and guidance to feel empowered, while providers respond better to confident challenges and clear business benefits that speak to their commercial interests.

The Results

• 68% Still watching at 30 seconds (above industry benchmarks)

• 5.7% Click-through rate from impressions

• 2:1 Provider engagement vs student engagement

• 53.8% Average watch percentage for providers

Got a new regulation that needs to stick with the right people?

Whether it’s compliance education, stakeholder engagement, or getting people to actually pay attention to important policy changes, we’d love to help you figure it out.

Drop us a line and let’s chat about what you’re working on.