CASE STUDY (SAE Institute): outreach and events in the creative industries

THE CLIENT.

SAE Institute (https://www.sae.edu/) is an international-level training institution for those who wish to obtain high-level training in the creative industries. The Academy, with more than 54 campuses located around the world, was founded in Australia in 1976 and is now present in 28 countries on 6 continents. 

Today it is part of the AD Education group and SAE Italia s.r.l. International Technology College is based in Milan, Italy, at 14 Via Domenico Trentacoste. The Italian facility, opened in 1996, offers training paths in the areas of Audio, Video, Game and Music Business, whose strength is based on alternating theory and practice and multimedia disciplinary projects, as well as partnerships with key players in the cultural and creative industries. 

SAE Italy promotes the internationalization of its student community and since 2018. awards bachelor's level academic degrees in Audio Production, Video Production and Game Production (application submitted in 2024). Starting A.Y. 2023/24, SAE Institute will participate in the Erasmus+ program, enhancing multimedia disciplinary projects and work experience.

THE GOALS.

The collaboration between SAE Institute and Disclosers took its first steps just days before the start of Milan Music Week 2022, one of the most relevant events for the music press and the Milan area.

The occasion was the event's opening press conference, a concrete opportunity to dive into SAE's world and understand its involvement within industry events and initiatives. However, it was necessary to bring out its role in a context full of partners, highlighting its peculiarities, identity and enhancing its specific contribution.

To consolidate its position as a major player within the educational landscape in the creative industries, attract young talent and amplement the possibilities of being able to offer education in areas still considered niche, making professions not yet known to those wishing to enter this world, SAE Institute asked Disclosers to support it in PR and media relations activities.

Already being a well-known entity in training in the disciplines of Audio (SAE Italy's was the first course delivered in this area), Video, Production - Electronic and Urban - and Business, through PR activities, SAE wanted to consolidate its reputation, positioning in the Italian training market and its role as a training hub of excellence. But that's not all: the Academy, in the course of the collaboration, has expressed a desire to achieve a new, ambitious goal: to carve out a prominent position in a rapidly expanding and developing creative sector that is increasingly attracting the interest of young people: gaming.

The team aimed to obtain wide media coverage by exploiting the various story angles and possibilities offered by SAE Institute not only as an Academy involved in numerous initiatives and events on the Italian territory, but also by taking advantage of its wide cultural heritage given by professors and insiders from the music, video and gaming world that gravitates around it.

THE PR & MEDIA RELATIONS STRATEGY

To communicate SAE Institute, we started with. A thorough analysis of the press and trade journalists, to ensure wide media coverage in major media outlets: from the Vertical magazines in the music, film and gaming sectors, from national and local newspapers with special reference to pages devoted to local events and culture, without neglecting the press specialized in the topics of the training, labor, school and education.

Given a well-defined medialist, followed by a thorough media analysis of articles regarding competitors and events that could relate to realities such as Milano Music Week or reviews and events related to SAE's world, from which to draw useful insights and journalistic contacts, we were able to identify several directives on which to set communication:

• Events: the heart of SAE Institute's activity, in addition to the purely educational sphere, revolves around events: on the one hand, those organized directly by the Academy and aimed at its students but also open to the public, to allow as many people as possible to get to know its reality and physically access the Campus; on the other hand, the cultural events in Milan and on the Italian territory in which it participates as an educational partner. For this reason, we produced press invitations for internal events including "In conversation with", with guests of the caliber of Mathame, Livio Magnini (former Bluvertigo), Cosmo, Sethu, Coco; at the annual "The Home of The Future," the Music Business students' end-of-course event, engaging Campus Manager Francesco de Giorgio in interviews; meetings to present Women In Music research data on gender inequality in the music industry, with press invitations and post-event releases; Meet & Play, the successful event dedicated to the world of gaming and playtesting; and finally, participations in cultural events such as Milano Music Week, Bookcity, Fuorisalone with Bravery Bar, through the creation and dissemination of joint releases. The activity also included our presence at events.

• Profession-themed press releases: to communicate a training offer without running the risk of packaging content with too much of a self-promotional slant, we thought a good strategy was to take advantage of particularly significant moments of the year, linked to events that in terms of media resonance. To publicize the many professional opportunities offered by SAE courses, we wrote and disseminated a press release about the "behind-the-scenes" professions at Sanremo, in conjunction with the Italian Song Festival; during the National Day of Theater, we proposed the professions behind the curtain; and in September, with Back to School, an overview of the Gaming professions. 

• Disclosure releases: SAE Institute possesses an enormous cultural richness at its core. Not only can it boast some of the best faculty in the relevant subjects, but it is embedded within a network in which experts, elumni professionals from the audio, video and gaming fields gravitate, who periodically participate in talks, panels and workshops with students and the public. We thought of using these valuable resources in a newsjacking activity, with interview proposals and byline articles on current issues and hot topics: in particular, at a time when AI is rewriting the rules of the creative industries, we questioned lecturers Paolo Bigazzi Alderigi on the risks of the advent of machines, lecturer and lawyer Paolo Catalano on the legal side, and Claudia Molinari, founder of We Are Muesli, on the link between AI and gaming.

The work with SAE Institute worked mainly by following a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, responding to the client's communication needs; on the other hand, proposing alternative content from our own ideas and proposals, so that the alternation of news offerings and variety could be ensured and not overload the press with similar content. In some particularly intense phases of the activity, it was useful to contain the excessive production of communications by selecting topics and distributing them over a wider time frame.

The relationship of trust that has been built over time with the client has allowed us to pose as consultants and recommend the best strategies to achieve the desired results.

RESULTS.

The threefold direction in which we have been heading has enabled us to obtain wide and varied media coverage by reaching out to the desired media and consolidating good relationships with the trade press, as well as making SAE Institute known and also enabling the emergence of relationships and synergies with some media and industry insiders, which have resulted in collaborations (see, for example, the recent project underway with Rockit, which will soon give rise to an event on the SAE campus to present a competition). 

Among the most prominent Tier1 publications:

https://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2025/01/24/news/cosa_fare_a_milano_oggi_24_gennaio-423956893

https://www.elledecor.com/it/design/a64084511/fuorisalone-2025-isola-design-festival-cosa-vedere

https://rumoremag.com/2025/04/18/paolo-bigazzi-alderigi-ai-musica

https://www.donnamoderna.com/empowerment/lavoro/gender-gap-musica-donne-pagate-meno

https://www.avvenire.it/economia/pagine/sae-institute-dodici-borse-di-studio-per-i-suoi-corsi

https://www.economymagazine.it/women-in-music-note-stonate-quando-il-cachet-lo-decide-il-genere

https://style.corriere.it/attualita/eventi/meetplay-2024-fare-giochi-vedere-gente-noi-ceravamo-e

https://www.radio24.ilsole24ore.com/podcast-originali/videogame-molto-di-piu-in-gioco

What can we do for your brand?

If our approach-which we share through all our channels-the results we achieve, our way of working, and the values that guide us resonate with your brand and the people who work in your organization, contact us.

We work alongside companies to build authentic and lasting media relationships through structured and targeted PR strategies. We can share dozens of case studies to show you concretely the impact of our work.

You can write to us at [email protected]

Or you can fill out our contact form by clicking on this button.