The Italian job: A case study of strategic international content creation

Over May–June 2023, a two-person communications team from McMaster’s Faculty of Humanities embarked on an ambitious content project: travel to Italy to document two archaeological digs and one potential institutional partnership affiliated with the Faculty’s Department of Greek and Roman Studies, producing content that supports a wide range of institutional priorities and needs. This paper will illustrate the rationale used to achieve project support from Faculty and institutional stakeholders and how the resulting content was used to support strategic priorities at many different levels within the institution. It will explore the planning and logistics involved with international content work, how collaboration between faculty and central communications personnel contributed to the success of the project, and offer some key lessons learned as the content was created and deployed. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.