Winner: Loughborough University
The #IAMIN campaign, run in collaboration with the students’ union, aimed to harness students’ enthusiasm and excitement on results day to create an online buzz, support PR and generate additional word-of-mouth recommendations for Loughborough during Clearing. The campaign, which focused on securing high-quality students (ABB+), sought to address a gap in projected numbers and put Loughborough in the minds of potential students on a tight budget.
The campaign focused on the emotional results rollercoaster and was mapped to different phases of the journey. Confirmation postcards included a cut-out frame and a hashtag to encourage people to take a selfie and share it, together with a link to the welcome page that included downloadable wallpapers and images for social media, information on the selfie campaign and a link to registration information. The cards also included a specific call to action with a link to the Clearing website: “Want your friends to join you here? There’s still time for them to get in”. A pre-Clearing website acted as a landing page and up-to-the-minute vacancy hub on results day while generating advance PR content, including a blog.
The blog appeared on ITV’s website and the university created a pre-recorded interview about Clearing for Capital Radio. The artwork for the #IAMIN selfie frame and the digital assets were created externally but all other work (including social media, print, PR, video, web and email mailshots) was delivered in-house. The vice-chancellor and the students’ union president joined staff to make calls. Video footage and images of this were posted on Twitter and Facebook, and a Storify captured comments in real time.
The campaign generated more than 2.5m Twitter impressions and over 51,000 unique external website visits, resulting in an increase of international student numbers through Clearing by 29 and ABB+ students by 76. It helped generate income worth over £3.4m for an outlay (across this campaign and the subsequent Freshers’ #IAMHERE, #WEAREHERE campaign) of less than £10k.
Runner up: University of Reading
The university ran an undergraduate recruitment campaign to raise interest among prospective students and increase the number of applications for 2015. Research undertaken in June 2013 had revealed that, although the university is ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world, prospective students were not aware of what it offered.
The Limitless campaign involved creating a new and more exciting visual identity. A multichannel national advertising campaign showcased Reading’s research and teaching, and used arresting images, challenging headlines and bold red tones, in order to compete with advertising from brands favoured by the target audience. Open Days were transformed, and included a large state-of-the-art inflatable exhibition dome representing every subject and service. A new training programme for student guides was introduced; and the registration and session selection was overhauled with a bespoke online tool.
The campaign saw a 17% increase in open day attendance and a 21% increase in applications for undergraduate applications for 2015-16.
Runner up: Bath Spa University
The university achieved huge increases in postgraduate applications in a declining market: the number of UK students starting a taught postgraduate degree at a UK university fell by 17% between 2009-10 and 2012–13. Postgraduate degrees are expensive, so for students to consider postgraduate study, they needed to be convinced that their investment would pay off.
The university sent questionnaires to staff and students on every course asking for all the publications and websites they might use in the course of their studies and when investigating courses. Using this information, the campaign included a generic message, such as “Why just be great at it...When you can master it?”) on websites like prospects.ac.uk and hotcourses.com. Once the student had drilled down, they saw more course-specific messages. The campaign ran almost exclusively online, with the biggest focus on the period between February and June.
The digital campaign delivered over 30m impressions and 38,300 clicks, and the result was a 59% increase in postgraduate applications.
