All tarted up for Clearing

Clearing. Yes, Clearing. That. From where you are, it might feel like "that time of year", though various parts of MAR are already "on it" ready to fight the annual rearguard with our finely honed collateral. Clearing, I suspect, will take on its familiar air of desperation masquerading as opportunity. Or should that be the other way round? Either or both ways, business as usual.

Or is it? This year, you could say, is more of the same. However, shifts in the market seem to have conspired against the Uni:

• lower numbers of 18 year olds;
• apprenticeships still being talked about and anticipated (leading to late engagement in the recruitment process), though not fully understood by some in the sector, let alone the students;
• greater levels of offer making by medium and higher tariff HEIs, some of whom have lowered their tariffs; 
• much wider use and abuse of unconditional offers;
• more vigorous marketing by a wider selection of HEIs, with institutions coming in earlier and wielding what appear to be higher spends and shinier incentives (e.g. Northampton laptops and Bucks New's new Clearing Access bursaries).

Mood music from UCAS and others  continues to encourage applicants to pursue aspirational choices, without a thought of whether Russell Group and - forgive the vernacular - "posh" unis are right for everybody. While choice and opportunities are abundant for students, universities are focussed on the bottom line and, as a result, becoming less touch-feely and more hard nosed in their approach.

University recruitment 2020?

All a far cry from what feels like the old, pastoral days of Clearing, but which - as Ellie pointed out last week - was only a few years ago. New Clearing has HEIs of all stripes and colours snarling and promising and focussing their attention on students who don't have the same level of impartial advice in schools. I would suggest that this state of affairs gives a far greater likelihood of hasty, hypnotised entrants entering academic worlds which may feel more hectic and, potentially more – well – "academic" than they had hoped.

University marketing 2020?

We owe it to potential students and to each other to make sure we give people the best information and the best opportunity we can. Most students, one hopes, will have a fulfilling life changing experience; most who come to Bedfordshire will also acquire life changing debts. Manageable, justifiable - arguably. But certainly nothing most sane people would blithely rush to embrace.

What will I be doing this year? I'm getting out of the office and will need to brush up on my phone manner. The continually stretching gap between initiatives/day-to-day departmental operation and resource has seen me drafted into manning phones in the PG Centre for the first couple of days of Clearing this year. I'm half looking forward/half dreading it. Talking to people on the telephone rather than fighting fires on email will be interesting and quite a departure from the blinkered monster that is email.

The author sends an email

Phones, eh? Many colleagues will still have them on their desks. Take a look. It's that funny black wedge with the handset with coily lead coming out of it. Remember? A device enabling people in remote locations to talk to each other. But not on the internet.

When telephones were bad....

This telephone thing was debunked in the second half of the last century, but really comes into its own in Clearing, when people from different backgrounds and frames of reference need to talk and really understand each other, rather than just shouting directives. Could there be a wider use for it in the normal working week, I wonder?

When telephones were good....

What's in an award?

Beverley Hoare, Deputy Director of MARC

Why do we bother to enter awards?  It’s a lot of time and effort for potentially nothing, isn’t it?

Gearing up for awards season

Well the Marcomms team have been busy submitting entries for a range of marketing and communications awards with HEIST, CIPR and IoIC, so I guess they think there’s a point, but here’s a few thoughts from me on why I think they are important.

A win or making a shortlist is a pat on the back - recognition from our peers that we are achieving the highest, most innovative standard of work.

We can learn from others who are showcasing their own best practice – they set the bar and we try to raise it.

We gain clarity about our achievements and what we had to do to make them happen.  The looking back exercise, pouring over data and evaluating ourselves is critical for future performance; the award submission provides the focus and motivation to make us reflect.

Busy cobbling together this years' @heistawards entry for @uniofbeds. Nothing beats an afternoon of number crunching data 🤓💼📊📝 #heist2017

— Sarah De Guzman (@Sarah_Hampton) February 22, 2017

It helps us to network; awards ceremonies are some of very few opportunities to get out of the University, share experiences with others and cement relationships with peers.

We can dress up and celebrate our achievements together, as a team – being nominated has a contagious effect on our mood.

Our @Beds Newsletter has been short-listed

I can say that all this effort has given us a pretty good run of award winning over the last 5 years, but wins at HEIST have alluded us recently.  So we’ve tried even harder and submitted a more solid entry this time.

I’m delighted that in the latest run of awards we have been shortlisted by the IoIC for our staff newsletter ‘A new lease of life for staff news’.  Jenny and Caroline will be attending the ceremony in York later this month and will hopefully come back with a piece of crystal for the bulging trophy cabinet. Watch this space…

The importance of data

Almost every blog I’ve written over the last year I’ve mentioned that I’m working on evaluation reports. You may (or may not) be tired of my talking about it, but data and analysing performance is a key part of marketing and key to progressing plans and improving performance year on year.

Without stats and having an understanding of activity performance, we’d really just be putting a finger in the air and hoping for the best. Solid stats mean clever decisions!

So it’s important that after every campaign or initiative we understand:

• what activity worked well – which platforms generated higher interest. Depending on the campaign and inventory this could be clicks, click through rate, phone calls generated, website visits, call back requests  
• where potential students are coming from – was our targeting correct and are there any emerging markets to be aware of
• messaging – which messages and visuals appear to have performed best
• source of interest - how did people reach our website or find out about the University – was it through campaign activity, Google organic traffic, college or UCAS events, printed material
• performance against target and previous years – have we hit target and have we improved on the previous year’s performance
• KPIs – what are they key performance indicators that we want to measure ourselves against, and have we performed well against them
• the student journey – first point of contact with the University, how many attend an open day/request a prospectus/make an application/accept an offer/go on to actually study with us
• and of course, return on investment – for every pound we spent during a particular campaign on or a particular piece of inventory, how much have we generated based on the leads generated

All of the above helps give an indication of performance, which we can use to make recommendations and amend activity for future campaigns.

A lot of the stats we get for evaluations we pull ourselves from various sources such as Google Adwords, Pure360 (our email platform), Facebook and Twitter and Eventbrite. However, we also draw on the expertise of our digital team, our market research team and a media agency and digital consultant. Often insight is a collaborative approach, as people have different skills sets and knowledge that we can utilise to get a more holistic view.

It’s also equally important to be aware of competitors, any new platforms or trends and any factors which can influence or affect our campaign efforts (some of which can be out of our control)- this is where market research, a media agency and a digital consultant can come in handy!

As marketers, it’s important to be able to show the value of what we do – marketing is far more than just printing posters and fliers! And good, hard stats go a long way to show the success of the campaigns and activity we run.

So all in all, the better we are at evaluating activity, the more sound our decisions become. And there’s nothing better than stats showing that something you’ve done has worked well!!

Speak soon,

K

Why every HE marketer should own more than one hat

Sarah De Guzman, Marketing Manager

From the woolly to the wacky variety, I've never really been a big fan of hats. No matter where I look or what I try I just can't seem to make it work for me. It's either the wrong size, or style, or in most cases the wrong price. Whatever the reason, it's always something extra to carry! But over the years I've had a change of heart, and have warmed up to the idea of an extra accessory, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Up until a few months ago, the marketing team pretty much took care of itself. We wrote and actioned our plans, we produced publications, and we worked towards our own objectives and corporate priorities. However, the scope of our role is always changing, and never more so than now. And that's why owning more than one hat becomes all the more important, whether you like the look or not!

Take a look below to see just how many hats a HE Marketer needs:

Everyday Flat Cap - business
as usual

The first hat of the day is the Flat Cap, otherwise known as the everyday hat - a must-have staple for any marketer. This is the run-of-the-mill, day-to-day operations that forms the back bone of any team and its output. From processing prospectus requests and crunching data, to formulating briefs and campaign plans, to monitoring budgets and platform performance, the daily role of a university marketer is a varied beast. Our day-to-day roles involve rolling out and implementing a series of marketing plans and initiatives, optimising and modifying existing work, whilst planning for, and working on, 3 consecutive recruitment cycles at any one time. Did I also mention juggling skills are essential?

Creative hat - brimming full of
inspiration and ideas

Without any doubt, a marketer will always need a Creative Hat. Whether it's conducting photoshoots to get that impactful image, writing dynamic copy to hook in the reader, or conjuring up new ways to reach an audience and appeal to their interests, there's always an element of creativity involved in a marketers day job. After recently writing a creative brief, I've spent some time meeting with three design agencies over the course of the last week, to discuss their artwork interpretations, and to shape the look and feel of our impending campaigns: Clearing and 2017 Annual. We've also just launched our 2017 Undergraduate prospectus, which has been 5 months in the making, and another creative outlet to showcase our points of differentiation, and market positioning. It's also been great to see that my More than a degree brain child has manifested itself as a brand-new section of the website, courtesy of our Marketing Assistant, Sara. Again, it presents another creative outlet to market the University and present a niche against our competitors.

Safari explorer hat at the ready - on an
Open Day discovery

A quick change of costume and it's on to the Safari Explorer Hat for us. Over the last few weeks the Marketing team has been working hard to promote Open Days as the perfect opportunity to discover more about university and student life, to both applicants and late enquirers alike. But we haven't just been supporting on the marketing frontier. It was all hands on deck recently, as we helped set up for the big event over at our Luton campus (and I gave the team, and our Head of Recruitment a master-class in the art of table origami aka folding the corners nicely, much to their amusement). We also manned the open day registration desks and were chatting with, what we hope to be the newest crop of students come September, and getting them to sign in, whilst talking them through the wealth of shiny new publications and information we had on hand. It was great to see all of the marketing materials that we produce being used and so warmly received.

Future-thinking - a digital shift

Back in the office, and there's another switch to be made. This time, we've got our Digital Hat on to complete the task in hand. Over the last few months the team has been undergoing a series of (very) early Monday morning training sessions to up-skill in the digital arena. We've been adding another string to our bow, progressing on from being a 'traditional' marketing team, and predominantly print-led. This has seen us leading on the implementation of Google Search, Display and Re-targeting, as well as driving forward the text, artworking and targeting for paid Social Media content.

Whilst all the extra work makes for a busy day, with us sometimes having to wear all hats at once, it definitely adds even more variety to our roles and makes us even more versatile and knowledgeable about our craft. We're well on our way to making the move from a traditional team to multi-tasking, multi-function and multi-platform marketers.

To make it in marketing you have to be able to adapt with the times and move within a constantly changing environment. For us, if something isn't changing, we're wondering why it's still standing still and why we're getting left behind. For us this has meant diversifying our skills and our remit to ensure optimum performance and results, even it if it has affected our head wear, or in my case, the previous lack there of.

We’re still beaming with PRide

So, I mentioned in my blog a few weeks ago that we were shortlisted for two CIPRide awards. Well I’m super excited to say we won both – Gold for best integrated campaign for our 2014 Clearing campaign, and Silver for best low budget campaign for our 2014 September open day campaign . The team were really pleased, but the dilemma now is where to put them in the office; our cabinet is getting pretty full, which is a nice problem to have.

We're winners!

The awards were held at Homerton College in Cambridge this year and it was a lovely venue; the buildings were great, and the room that held the awards ceremony was really grand. The food was also really nice, so all in all a good night. I attended the awards for the first time last year, and Sarah has attended previous CIPRide awards, but it was the first time for Sara and Charlotte.

Accepting our Gold Award

The event started with some welcome drinks, before we sat down for a hearty three course dinner; Goats cheese and golden beetroot salad to start, Honey roasted duck breast and veg for main, and finished off with chocolate fondant and caramel ice cream, which was delicious- I could eat it all again now!

After the dinner (and a couple of glasses of wine) it was time for a quiz and then the awards ceremony. As our categories and the finalists shortlisted were read out I could feel the tension from the team, it’s great to be shortlisted but after all of our hard work, and because we’re quite competitive, we really wanted to come away with something. And we did, which was fantastic!

Accepting our Silver Award

The event had great use of social media too – there was a photo booth which allowed you to upload images straight onto Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and they were also shown around the room on various screens throughout the night, which was great. I’ve shared some pictures of the team throughout this blog, but you can see all of the pictures here.

Hopefully, we can enter and win more awards as the year goes on. The 2015 September open day campaign generated some good numbers again this year, so watch this space…

As Sarah mentioned last week, we are now down to a team of three, so winning the awards was great for the team morale. And as we continue through this cycle, we will continue to be targeted in our approach to campaigns and hopefully continue to yield some great results for the University. Throughout the year, the marketing team try to enter numerous awards, by numerous awarding bodies, as it’s not only great for the team to have our hard work recognised, but it’s also good to showcase the work that we’re doing.

Speak soon,
K

Celebrating our wins in the photo booth!

MARC 2.0

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

The burning question on everyones lips is surely ‘what have you been up to?,’ well …For UCMK and Pre-Clearing campaigns I have been updating the copy to keep our adverts fresh, tracking activity and adjusting targeting to optimise return; I have also obtained media quotes and put together a plan for additional advertising throughout May to boost applications.

I have just finished budgeting and planning the Clearing plan options and written my proposal. Once a verdict has been reached I can begin scheduling. In the meantime I have been working with our design agency to progress the artwork, organising students, location etc. for the photo shoot and arranging 3 methods of testing to ensure that the final design reflects our student body. I try to get as much student input as possible, with a student centric approach.

Having been at the University for a year now I have been reflecting on the campaigns cycle, having come back around to Clearing again, my very first campaign at the University. We are a busy, hardworking team and if you read this blog regularly you’ll know that we turnover an unbelievable amount of work; the Marketing Team is small but mighty. What makes us successful is the passion that we have for our field; our eyes and ears are always open to competitor and wider advertising trends. It is also the pride that we take in our work and a willingness to go above and beyond to get the job done. We are always looking to develop our work, improve and excel.

The delivery of our corporate campaigns has come a long way in a mere year. With each campaign we have assessed the impact, the damage and rewired, reinforced; recalibrated. Questioning, how did we perform in the field? How did we stand up against the competition? Where is there further potential for growth? Investigating, tearing apart those answers, drilling down to each individual coil and spring. Gauging, welding, carving, pummelling.  The result…Let me introduce you to MARC 2.0.

• Featuring streamlined processes - Plans and schedules that span wider and deliver the optimum advertising platforms
• Enhanced targeting - Each individual platform delivered is based on location, interest, demographics, behavioural targeting to start.  We know where our audience is and how to reach them
• Improved tracking - With each campaign lessons have been learnt and we have been able to devise new tracking strategies. Google analytics has always provided a wealth of data but we have become smarter in the way that we use it; we’ve got the special tricks down. We are able to track a user’s journey across multiple platforms, as well as, tracking their onward journey online. This will provide greater insight into consumer behaviour allowing for more efficient advertising models. We have come up with new methods of tracking offline activity and are about to roll out a new and improved strategy for Clearing to enhance data capture.
• The latest marketing technology - We are using new, exciting platforms to reach and communicate with our audience in a new way
• Synergy - The channels that we use complement each other and are fully integrated to enhance the user experience and strengthen brand power
• Competitor intelligence - With more knowledge and insight into competitor campaign scope and delivery
• Added shine - Our campaign artwork is slick, it’s polished with commercial finesse

 Slicker. Faster. Stronger. Smarter. MARC 2.0. Raising the bar!

 Krystle

In the heart of the Clearing data jungle

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer 

It’s all about the analysis right now.  As current campaigns have been delivered and some are now coming to a close I have begun evaluating the activity. The ‘mother of all evaluations’ is Clearing, which is currently at about 52 pages and counting. I have been looking at trends in the market as a whole, as well as, our direct competitors. Our Market Research, Admissions and Digital teams produce reams of quality data and I have been able to use their findings to measure the success of the campaign in greater detail. You want it; they’ve got it, the old ‘kid in a candy store’ chestnut.

I have created a campaign map that indicates what activity ran where across the country and it is really telling. It captures the sheer volume of advertising that we ran and our practical utilisation of geo-targeting. I nearly broke google maps (don’t be giving me none of that ‘no more layers’ google, no one’s got time for that). I have then been able to plot that against applications and enrolment figures. Outdoor and print based activity has been the most challenging to pin down as these platforms are notoriously difficult to track and evidence, so I have been formulating more innovative metrics to squeeze as much information as possible.

Really, I need to bring it to a close now, for my own sanity’s sake. There is such a wealth of data that you can really get lost in it if you’re not careful. *David Attenborough voice* Here we are in the heart of the Clearing data jungle, and it really is a thing to behold. To my left the radio schedule, its rich spots on full show. To my right the digital display stats scrap; the Student Room ready to do battle with Hotcourses. In the distance the tall bars of the SOI graph waving in the breeze, Google adwords towering over his brothers; perched just on the edge we catch a rare glimpse of the regal twitter bird flying high above its social media counterparts. Here we have a bright outdoor demographic pie chart spreading its wings to ward off predators; a young print readership line graph looks to its mother and cries ‘what are my proof points’…Like I say, for my own sanity…

The next step is the campaign plan. I already have a head start on myself last year and grand plans afoot. We have highly ambitious targets to hit so I am determined to use all the information that I have gained on performance to produce the most robust plan to date. The team has already been discussing what bright ideas we can come up with to give a unique spin on Clearing; I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop. Lest we forget, keeping it fresh, at the forefront and allowing room for experimentation is essential.

What else; I have been doing some gap analysis looking at the platform spend across campaigns to determine where we have made cost savings and where there is room for negotiation. I have really been scrutinising and crunching those numbers and made some interesting findings. Sometimes it isn’t until you really strip apart the components of a project that you really find clarity.

Over the past couple of weeks I have delivered the last bits of Aylesbury and Pre-Clearing copy, the Radio LaB brand guidelines are pretty much complete, just a case of final approvals, and I have been monitoring current activity to see if there is any room for optimisation. I have also been updating some of our online profile copy. We now have an enhanced profile on WhatUni.com with new images, video and content. Lots of other little projects chugging along in the backdrop too. And back to the jungle I go.

Later skaters,

Krystle

2015, let’s do this thing

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

A belated happy new year to you all! I have emerged from my festivity coma and remembered my name, profession and passwords so 2015, let’s do this thing.

As Sarah mentioned in the previous post we had our first ‘meet the suppliers day’ on Wednesday. It was a great opportunity to peruse the latest products, approaches and gain fresh market insight. With Clearing Campaign planning looming it was great to emerge from the day feeling clued up and inspired.

Speaking of Clearing, I have plunged into evaluating the activity that we ran in 2014 and what a beast of a campaign it was. We rolled out a plethora of platforms over a 4 month period that had the whole MARC department breaking out in a sweat. I’m currently wading through all the data and analysing what was most effective and what wasn’t. We put detailed and robust tracking in place so I have a wealth of data to play with. I will share my findings with you in due course. That was my first ever campaign at the University, I can hardly believe that I am about to begin planning it again; how time flies when you’re having fun.  

So what else is happening…Well, now that we have a Radio LaB logo finalised, I am working with our designer to produce a set of brand guidelines and will be looking to put together a plan to push out the brand imminently.

With the launch of our new Paramedic Science course comes some shiny new artwork produced by our very own Graeme Stenhouse. Feast your eyes on these beauties:

We did a lot of market research in preparation for the Aylesbury campaign to drill down to exact profiling, geo-targeting and appropriate platforms etc. which resulted in 2 bespoke plans. We are running a range of advertising including radio, print and extensive digital search and display. We also have a range of advertorials published in the local press throughout January. I got to interview the new Paramedic Science course co-ordinator, Mark Cutler, which was great. He is really passionate about his subject and is excited to begin the new course in March with a dynamic approach.  I also interviewed a couple of our students, Catherine Jelly, who is studying Adult Nursing and Giles Loch, who is studying Mental Health Nursing. Both students are currently on placement and it was really interesting to hear how they got into their respective fields, their practical experiences and their future aspirations. I think what came across most was the high level of support and guidance that they had received from their tutors which is always wonderful to hear.  

My top priority at the moment is Pre-Clearing. I have been working with our new design agency Fabrik on the artwork which has reached completion. It’s now a case of production and delivery. We are all about invention and innovation in MARC; with cutting edge market intelligence at the forefront and the Pre-Clearing plan is no exception. There has been a real seismic shift in our approach to campaigns towards digital platforms. We have a large range of inventory on external education sites, as well as, a strong outdoor presence in Luton, Milton Keynes, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead. Look out for the new campaign artwork winging its way to you soon.

Anyway, I better get back to it but type to you soon,

Krystle

Festive Cheer and The Call of the Beautiful North

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

This is possibly the busiest time of the year for Campaigns so apologies for the hurried, garbled blog. As Kylie says it’s all a mad dash to get everything done before the Christmas break. I feel like a manic parent flailing around Debenhams, willing to scratch eyes out to get my hands on the last One Direction calendar for my precious princess. You’d all better back up because I’ve got some hefty deadlines to hit.  I have to keep telling ‘festive cheer’ and ‘the call of the beautiful North’ to pipe down; not yet guys, it’s not time. "But we have music, chocolate, shiny things and bottles filled with joy" 

"No" I say, for it isn't time.

So January Start and UCMK activity is all live and the campaigns are going strong. There will be two advertorials running in January to promote our EmployAble scheme and Business courses, as well as, our Psychology research. The lamppost banners have been confirmed, artwork is delivered and they will go up for the UCMK campaign in central Milton Keynes within the next few days.

I completed the Aylesbury Campaign photo-shoots a couple of weeks back at our Buckinghamshire and Bedford campus.’ The artwork will complement the Winter suite but we have used bespoke imagery.  Graeme from our Digital Team has been hard at work finalising the designs and they should be ready by the end of the week. The two radio adverts went live on Monday so listen out for them on Vibe fm and Mix 96. I am also working on a couple of advertorials to promote the courses in the local press.

We have just updated the online Winter copy again. I was sad to change the festive copy as I’d grown rather attached to it but the open evening has been and gone so I must let go; anyway it’s time to let the world know that they should ‘apply now’ for September 2015 courses. We are utilising our market research agency Statistics into Decisions to delve into the response to our activity so that we can continually make adjustments to the plan to ensure that mediums work for us. I am also liaising with them on wider market Intel and benchmarking against our competitors.  

*cough* don’t leave Clare *cough, cough*

Our new design agency Fabrik has been honing the artwork designs for Pre-Clearing. We have a strong concept to run with, it’s just a case of tweaking and finalising now. I won’t tell you too much about that until the big reveal in the New Year. I have been organising the photo-shoot for that; graduates to take part, location, scheduling, shot list and art direction. It’s tomorrow so touch wood *knock, knock* all will go to plan and I will share the spoils with you in my next blog. I am nearly finished finalising the Pre-Clearing Campaign plan. Once that’s done I will sort the scheduling.

The results of the Radio LaB logo survey are in and the resounding winner is….

I will look to campaign planning to see how we can get the logo out there.

Clearing…. I’m not gonna lie guys I’ve been too busy to do any Clearing Campaign analysis  or gap analysis the past couple of weeks but lets face it the only one who's hurting is me there because I love a pie chart as much as I love pies. Well bring it on in the New year.

*Cough* Clare don’t go *sniff, cough*

So I intend to claw my way through these last couple of days before I set off up North to see my family and friends. I can then relax, overindulge and party hard returning refreshed and raring to go. I hope that you all have an outstanding time wherever you are.

OK ‘festive cheer’ and ‘the call of the beautiful North’ now it’s time…

Happy Christmas All,

Krystle

Spreading festive cheer; Xmas parties and planning

By Sarah Hampton, Marketing Manager

We've got our list, we're checking it twice, and we're going to find out who's.... leaving on time to make the Staff Christmas party next week.

Full speed ahead as
the Jan UCAS deadline
approaches

For many offices and departments, as the festive season approaches it's a time to start winding down; a real chance to kick back, relax and enjoy the masses of mince pies and festive cheer as the holiday season approaches. But that's not quite the case for the Marketing team over in the Atrium, as December is often one of our busiest months, second only to August when it's Clearing. It's a real crunch time as we make the most of the last few weeks available to communicate with our enquirers and promote the many benefits of joining the University of Bedfordshire before the UCAS deadline in January. So, whilst term may have officially ended and the cold winter weather sets in, things are truly heating up over in Marketing HQ as we go full speed ahead to action our core enquirer activity.

Today is the day of our open evening! There is still time to book: http://t.co/yXOmx1LvST pic.twitter.com/UbeWXTxF5M
— uniofbeds (@uniofbeds) December 10, 2014

The last week has seen the Marketing and Digital Marketing teams working hard to promote a festive open evening. This event wasn't originally planned into the recruitment schedule, but was a quick response to some unforeseen events taking place in the town which resulted in our November event having to be postponed at the last minute. Not to be deterred, the team set out to rework all of the campaign visuals, and devise new marketing plans to push out the new event details, with the help of our CRM team as they communicated the new event details out and encouraged sign ups. The event was a real success overall, and we're pleased that we were able to successfully retain some of the enquirers who had originally signed up to attend the event in November.

New 'Apply Now' artwork

All change, all change!
Now that all open days are officially over for the year, it's time for a quick change of all the campaign artwork again, as we move from plugging our on campus visits, to driving applications directly to UCAS for 2015 entry. We're also busily working away on our conversion newsletters, 13 applicant newsletters to be precise. These are the very first communications that our applicants will receive from us, and so we're aiming to get them off to print just before Christmas, so they're ready to be mailed out almost as soon as we get back.

For those who know me well, you'll know I love a good report and a bit of Marketing data. And so in the last few weeks we've been exploring how we can better track the impact of our work. After a number of meetings and after bouncing a few emails back and forth between the marketing and digital teams, we've finally got a new tracking url system agreed and in place, thanks to Paul in the digital team. It's much easier to recall and recognise than the previous tracking we used, and should provide us with much more insight into engagement with our materials. So watch out for this url popping up in the new year across our marketing materials.

Although it's an incredibly busy time, we always somehow manage to find some time to have some fun along the way. And what better way to get into the festive spirit than by donning our best festive favourites for Christmas Jumper Day.

Rockin' around the Christmas tree (left to right):
Krystle, Clare, Sarah, Beverley and Kylie.

As the year comes to a close, we wish you a very Merry Christmas from everyone here within the Marketing team. Stayed tuned to read more about our key initiatives in the new year.

Roll up, roll up

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

Things are really heating up on the Campaigns front. It is that time of year, much like the elusive eclipse, when all the campaigns align in the same spot, at the same time. And it’s all a matter of spinning plates. January starts, January Starts, hold on January Start ooo there goes Winter, keep it spinning, and UCMK’s still turning, but watch it, waaaatch it, let’s get Aylesbury and Pre-Clearing going, don’t you fall Winter annnnnd with the left arm Clearing! Phew!

I have been pulling new advertising  ideas out of the hat for Winter Campaign to enhance our current activity. With the help of the digital and design teams I have been refreshing the artwork to promote our latest open days. The digital team has produced some beautiful and highly festive designs for our online copy featuring snowflakes; look how shiny it is…

Next up is January Starts Campaign. The artworks done, the PO’s have been raised, the tracking is in place. It’s bold, its dynamic, the ultimate strong man. With online display, google, email and print, there is sure to be something for everyone.

With much leaping, flipping and jumping the UCMK Campaign has been booked and is in full swing. Witness the bus ads fly by, coffee cups whirr and lamppost banners sway. 

Pre-Clearing is no joke. With the evaluation complete, planning and artwork concept in hand, let’s see just how many platforms we can shove into that clown car.

Watch me walk the Aylesbury Campaign tightrope with Adult Nursing on one side and Paramedic Science on the other. Two plans have been carefully constructed based on extensive analysis to promote our Adult Nursing course starting in March 2015. We also have a new Paramedic Science course running, designed in partnership with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust and Health Education East of England. I have been busy organising the photography of students and graduates for the artwork.

I have only just begun taming the beast that is Clearing. We ran an enormous campaign earlier this year.  I am in the process of pulling together all the data collected to analyse which mediums were most successful. This set us in good stead for campaign planning. We are always working on ways to be better here in MARC and we are conducting evaluations and analysis earlier and earlier so that we can produce the best strategy possible. We have already started booking in activity for August 2015 to make sure that we purchase quality advertising ahead of the competition.

And for my next trick I will be working on a new logo and branding project for our community radio station, Radio LaB. We have created and narrowed it down to 3 logos which our Market Research team are in the process of testing. More news on that to follow.

So be amazed, look on in awe at all the acts we have in store…

Krystle

Once upon a midnight dreary

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

As it was Halloween on Friday and you may have noticed my mild obsession with macabre literature…

“and the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, on the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door…” – bit of Poe (The Raven) there for you.  Bringing a bit of culture to the blog.

…I jumped at the chance to go and see a screening of Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein in London last week.  It was the version with Benedict Cumberbatch (‘that one off of BBC’s Sherlock”) as Dr Frankenstein and Jonny Lee Miller (‘the bloke who dated Angelina Jolie when she bared semblance to a vampire’) as the Monster.  It was standard Boyle, amazing.  It was really visceral, cathartic and sombre; compelling.  If you get a chance, go and see it.

I hope that you all had an excellent Halloween, whatever you got up to.  I ended up going to a local fun fair and fire work display which was great fun. 

The Marketing Team never ceases to amaze me with their hidden talents; our resident Marketing Manager Sarah, emerged as quite the skilled pumpkin carver; who knew.  Ask her to see pictures of her Tigger creation.   

Camp-whaaaaat-CAMPAIGNS

So “what’s the latest in the world of campaigns” I hear to cry, well I’ll tell you.

We are in the middle of delivering a robust, multichannel Winter Campaign which will run until 15 January 2015 UCAS application deadline.  We are using a range of platforms including bus streetliners, cinema 6 sheets, digital display ads, open day listings, Google search, display, keywords  and retargeting, along with Facebook promoted posts.  We also have a range of online profiles on UCAS, Complete University Guide, Student Room, and Hotcourses.

I have been working closely with our in-house teams, our advertising agency SMRS and the media as part of live reporting to closely track an optimise activity.

Beyond Winter Campaign, we are about to launch activity for the January Start and UCMK Campaigns.  I have been busy finalising plans, organising media and arranging artwork for those.

After that will come Pre-Clearing.  I am meeting with the new appointed design agency for campaigns, Fabrik, on Thursday to get the ball rolling with the artwork concept.  I will be finalising the creative brief in readiness for our meeting.  I am very excited about this new collaboration and am looking forward to get going.  I am also arranging graduates and putting together a schedule for the photography.

I have been working with the Market Research team to arrange focus groups to get feedback on the Clearing Campaign and the current Winter Campaign.  We will be running interactive workshop sessions on Wednesday to get student feedback on our artwork and on competitor campaign activity.  This will feed into future briefs.  I will let you know the outcomes.

A really important part of my job is evaluating campaigns.  By using all the data at my disposal I am able to analyse activity and reflect on what worked, what didn’t and recommend progressive measures.  I have recently been working on the Aylesbury and Pre-Clearing evaluations, the recommendations of which will feed into the brief for this year’s plan of activity.

There’s a lot going on as ever so I better get back to it.  

Later skaters,

Krystle

The Wanderer Returns

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

Since my last blog I have been on holiday to Gran Canaria.  It was a relaxing, sun drenched week filled with ice cream sundaes, sea, sand and beautiful sunsets.  We stayed in a safari themed hotel that had animal sound effects to plunge you into the depths of the amazon, life-size animal sculptures that transport you to the Serengeti and there were even terrapins in ponds lining the walkways on the ground floor.  (The temptation was great but I can confirm that I didn’t steal a terrapin).  It was wonderful.  Here for your viewing pleasure is me doing a double teapot next to one of said statues.

Now it is back to the world of work with a bump.  I spent a good day just going through my emails but now I’m back in the groove (Groove is in the heartttttttt…anyone, no. OK.)

 

Winter is here

 

The Clearing advertising schedule has finally come to a close; I have been arranging for all our outdoor advertising to be taken down.  The next step will be reviewing all the data collated during the campaign and scrutinising it to produce a detailed and comprehensive campaign evaluation that we can use to hone our future activity.  It will be interesting to see which platforms performed best and to look into how new forms of advertising fared in comparison to the tried and tested methods.  I will let you know. 

I have been progressing the Winter artwork and as promised will unveil it in this blog.

“It was on a dreary night of September that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me (pens, note pad, shutterstock images)… the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my hard drive was close to full capacity, when, by the magic of dropbox’s online function, I saw the bright glowing eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and convulsed as letters emerged from its keyboard…Behold… (too dramatic?)”

 

The strap continues and develops the ‘student journey’ message set out in Clearing and conveys that our outstanding teaching, based on world leading research and excellent student support will bring out our students potential. 

The artwork sets out to visually representing UoB unearthing students hidden talents/skills/passions.  The imagery encapsulates the idea that UoB students enter as ‘diamonds in the rough’ and emerge as globally connected entrepreneurs.  

The imagery used is dynamic to appeal to creative thinkers.  It demonstrates that as an institution we nurture and encourage the entrepreneurial mind-set of our students.  The graduates used embody entrepreneurial spirit; the glowing vector in each artwork symbolises that which is unique in each graduate that makes them stand out from the competition.   We are very proud of our 2014 NSS results so that also features prominently in the artwork.

I have really been up against the clock with this project and am relieved to see it finalised.  I am a perfectionist and feel that I could have developed the designs further but sometimes you just have to do the best that you can in the time that you have to work with, so I’ve done just that.  With the scheduling, briefing, developing and delivery complete, most of the Winter Campaign artwork is now live, so look out for it on buses, trains, phone boxes and in cinemas etc. 

Our digital team have created a bespoke landing page where you can watch the graduates talking about their experiences, get information on our forthcoming open days and live chat with our advisors.  Check it out here: http://www.beds.ac.uk/discover
 

Tender Time

It is that time of year when we tender for a new prospectus/creative campaigns agency.  Last week the Marketing Team received pitches from the shortlisted agencies.  This is the first time that I have been on the panel for a university tender; the appointment process is very different in the private sector.  It must have been a very nerve wracking experience for those presenting, my heart went out to them.  Lucky for us there were some strong contenders to choose from.  I felt really inspired seeing the different agency designs and I am really looking forward to embarking on a new creative partnership.

Later Skaters,

Krystle

We're still clearing that path, someone get a leaf blower

Krystle Hall, Campaign Officer

The Clearing Campaign is still going strong with all hands on deck in the MARC Department.  We have ambitious targets to hit and everyone is working very hard to achieve them.  It’s been great seeing all the artwork erected in various formats in the local area.  Passers-by have looked on bemused as I have tried to capture billboards and lamppost banners on my mobile whilst striving not to walk into any hedges.

I went to the Odeon cinema in Milton Keynes yesterday to see ‘Million Dollar Arm,’ my boyfriend’s choice, he is always forcing me to watch sport and related documentary’s about former basketball players that have succumbed to the dark, drug fuelled underworld of sport only to emerge on the other side as motivational speakers (!).  Needless to say I was hesitant to sit through a film about both cricket and baseball but it turned out to be a typical feel good Disney endeavour.  Anyway I digress, my point being as I sat through trailers for ‘Lucy’ and ‘The hundred foot journey’ I was proud to see our Clearing advert flash up on screen.  It was good to see that it is still going strong.

We have even extended, upscaled and added further activity to really strengthen and optimise the campaign.  We have extended and added outdoor advertising, expanded our events remit and added additional Student Room, UCAS, What Uni , Metro and other University sector advertising online.  We are using detailed tracking and analytics to augment the campaign and ensure that we are using the best possible methods to get the brand out there.  I am also working on a new radio advert to refresh the message that it’s not too late to join us.

Winter is coming

For the past few weeks I have been working on the new artwork concept for the Winter Campaign.  We want to take the current Clearing concept of the student journey and develop it further to show the graduate journey.  We have been looking at how to retain what we created with Clearing but take it to the next level.  Coming up with creative ideas is easy, the hard part is making your ideas work on the page; making a functional advert that delivers whilst retaining edge and innovation.  And time is never on our side.  After playing around with different ideas we have now developed a mocked up design.  But you can’t see it yet, because it isn’t ready; our (proverbial Frankenstein’s) monster is yet to have life pumped in it.

But I can tell you that the strap will be ‘Discover a path to your future’ which continues and develops the ‘clearing a path to your future’ message (see what we did there; of course you did it’s not that deep).  The artwork sets out to visually represent UoB unearthing students hidden talents/skills/passions in the form of a glowing image against a dusky backdrop; it’s very dramatic. 

I was out of the office last week doing the photography and videography for it.  We have some great graduates on board from a range of disciplines.  It was really fascinating to hear about the different experiences and journeys that they had undertaken.  I found it inspirational to see what our graduates have achieved and it was great to hear how passionately they felt about their experiences here.  Some were recent graduates who had obtained scholarships, some had high profile jobs at well know companies and others ran their own businesses.  Our resident Marketing Assistant Sophia Meola had her arm twisted to represent Business.  I got some lovely ethereal, ballerina shots of her.

As ever we are very ambitious in our vision. For our Sports graduates Joe Strange and Ryan Freckleton I wanted to get dynamic motion shots of them running and jumping which meant taking shot after shot to get the image just right.  A photo shoot with us isn’t any ordinary photo-shoot it’s a chance to both pose and get your sweat on.    

We experimented with directional lighting to create extreme states and produce depth and interest in the photographs.  The test was articulating the vision in my head so that the photographer and model understood exactly what I was trying to achieve.  A lot of it was trial and error as solutions which made sense in theory didn’t always work out in practice.  Nonetheless I am confident that the resulting shapes and hues will really give this campaign a sophisticated, corporate feel that will set us apart from the competition and take the brand from strength to strength.

I’m sure you can tell that I am really excited to start working on the artwork properly now that we have got all the photography sorted; can’t wait to see it come to life.

Anyone who knows me will know that I love a spread sheet, sad I know, and I have been too busy of late to give my spread sheets the attention they deserve so off I go to love and nurture them back to present day accuracy.

Type soon,

Krystle