Do Influencers #AD's actually work?

Personally, I find it really difficult to write about things I don't have an opinion on. This week I think people expected me to talk about the clearing campaign photography we've had done, but honestly... I don't have anything groundbreaking to say about it. Yes it was busy and slightly chaotic, but the experience was great and the photos are looking amazing, and exactly what we'll need to pull off our new idea. So what more is there to say? Job done. I will treat you to a couple of BTS shots though, just so you feel included in the mayhem...

What I wanted to talk about instead is something that us 'marketeers' hear about a lot... and that's digital influencers. Basically, asking people who have a lot of followers in the digital space to promote your products/services to their audiences. While we've been choosing the inventory for our clearing campaign, social influencers has been a topic of conversation, and today I wanted to look into it in a bit more detail. 

1) Is it actually effective?

If you look at the stats, yes it works. A lot of media agencies will tell you it's the only truly effective way to market to students or Gen Z nowadays. In fact, Activate by Bloglovin's research has found that 67% of marketers think influencer marketing campaigns helped them reach a more targeted audience, which leads to better overall results. And why wouldn't it? To the younger audience it's essentially like being recommended a product or service from a friend, and what could be more convincing than that? 

2) When DOES it work?

Let me preface this with... I watch a lot of YouTube. And I've seen my fair share of influencer ads. From personal experience (and I imagine it to be the same amongst some), sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The best brand work I've seen through digital creators has definitely always been the longer campaigns. If I see a creator post one #ad for a brand and then never speak about them again, I'm not believing a word they're saying. But when influencers and brands have lasting relationships it has more value to the audience. Plus it's got to be a partnership that makes sense. (I cannot emphasise this enough). 

For example: Liza Koshy works out everyday, and posts Instagram stories/Snapchats about it regularly. Liza Koshy also happens to have 15 million subscribers and 15.6 million Instagram followers. So Nike approached her. Makes sense, right? A match made in heaven. And then this happened. 20 MILLION VIEWS?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I actually enjoyed sitting through what was essentially 8 minutes of advertising! As well as that, she created her own pair of shoes with Nike, plus they got her to host a whole bunch of panel events with athletes - both of which built value and trust with her audience. But credit where credit due, the advert only worked because it was still 100% Liza. Full of puns, double entendre, physical comedy, and most importantly... complete transparency. 

3) When does it NOT work?

When influencers promote something that you wouldn't associate them with. Or when it's forced, sounds rehearsed, or when the creator hasn't been organic. Just today I saw a vlogger promoting the DVD release of Maze Runner: The Death Cure on his channel and on Instagram. But I never saw him go and see the film in the first place, plus I've been watching him for a year and I've never even seen him set foot in a movie theatre, so why am I going to trust him to recommend me this? So fake! Yeah I watch YouTube, but I'm not dumb. (Wait, was that an oxymoron?). 

Wrong partnerships are the curse of the digital space. It would be like us asking a creator who attends another university to make a sponsored video about us. Who on earth is going to believe that? Getting your target audience to listen doesn't work if you don't have the right thing to say. 

So there you have it. A little insight into how I think marketing with digital influencers works and how it doesn't. Something for us definitely to think about, as it seems that's where a lot of marketing is headed in the future. If you have any thoughts then let me know, YouTube is easily one of my favourite topics of conversation! 

Until next time. Over and out. 

A little insight into my week

I can’t quite believe that it’s Friday already – this week has flown by, and what a week it’s been.

Earlier this week some of our media providers came in to present some of the new media platforms that are available. These are always really interesting and informative days as the media providers share some of their market insight with us, as well as their predictions of where the market may be heading. They then present to us some of the new ways available to connect with our audience, to help strengthen the University of Bedfordshire brand awareness and engagement.

The way in which consumers connect with brands continues to change dramatically, and consumers expect more from brands than they once did. Because of this we have been focusing on how we can make our messages more personalised, and some of the options that we were shown will allow us to do exactly that. I don’t think I can say too much more right now, but keep your eyes peeled over Clearing to see what we’ve been up to.

We also had a meeting with our media agency to discuss how our campaign has performed over the last year, and to see what’s in store over Clearing. These meetings provide a good opportunity for us to take the time to reflect on what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what we can do to improve our messaging in the future.

We have a really exciting Clearing campaign planned this year, and we’re excited for you all to see it. One aspect at the heart of all of our campaigns is that we use our own students, rather than models or actors. We believe that this presents a more accurate representation of Bedfordshire, and we try to capture video content as well so that prospective students can hear about our current students experiences. We’ve got our photo-shoots coming up over the next couple of weeks so I’ve been busy contacting our students this week to see if they would like to take part in our campaign, trying to ensure that all subject areas are represented. Although the next couple of weeks will be busy, I always enjoy meeting our students and learning about their Bedfordshire experiences.

I’m not sure I can finish without making a celebratory comment about the sun finally making an appearance this week can I? It’s been a little hot in the office the last few days, but we seem to have found the perfect solution*.

Sara

*Other ice lollies are available from retailers

I don't want you to photoshop yourself. Your landscapes, however...

This blog post is kind of a two for the price of one situation. Essentially, I went to New York last week and want to talk about it (a thousand apologies to my colleagues who have heard about it non-stop for the whole week, I swear this will be the last thing). But I also want to make it work-related, so I’m going to tie it in with my role as a member of our newly formed Social Media Team. Therefore, drum roll please…

Tips and tricks for editing Instagram pictures

For the first time in my life I actually have a decent camera (the Canon G7X mark ii for those who care), so have been making extra effort to improve my photography and editing skills. I'm by no means an expert - I only started teaching myself four days ago - but this is what I’ve learnt so far.

Photoshop tricks

1) TIMES SQUARE, NY. As I've said in the title, I really don't encourage 'photoshopping' yourself in any way. However, I do think that sometimes it's allowed. For example, in the picture below I actually had chocolate on my face *rolls eyes*, but it was a really nice picture other than that, so I figured it was excusable. If you have a similar situation, I suggest the Spot Healing Brush or the Clone Stamp tools on Photoshop - which are really useful for getting pieces of fluff off your clothing or just smartening up chocolately faces. Be warned though - they are both 'blurring' tools, so if you use them over a large surface area, people will be able to tell. 

ORIGINAL

EDITED

2) FINANCIAL DISTRICT, LOWER MANHATTAN, NY. If by accident, like me, you've taken a picture at a really nice time of day - dawn or dusk or during a sunset, for example - it can be nice to enhance that. In the image below a couple of useful techniques have been used. First, to straighten out buildings or other subjects, copy a new layer of your image. Then Ctrl T (Transform) and right click and choose Distort. Then you're free to drag the corners/sides of your image to make them straighter. Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights helps to make any buildings or structures stand out, and Ctrl L will bring up a levels menu that can also brighten or darken any shapes (clouds included!). And lastly, to brighten up skies, you can go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter, which gives you loads of options to bring out different saturations of colours, to make them really stand out! 

ORIGINAL

EDITED

Image editing apps

If you don't have access to Photoshop or just can't be bothered to spend that much time on your pictures, there are some pretty good editing apps available nowadays that can improve your images just as easily. Here are some I've found. 

1) BROOKLYN BRIDGE, LOOKING BACK ON MANHATTAN, NY. I used an app called Photofox to edit this picture, which I've found is great if you want to give the illusion that your pictures have been taken on old-fashioned camera reel (like the Olympus Penn or OM-1). If colour distortion and fade is your thing, then this is the app for you! It's free and has a wide range of light overlays that can give your images that vintage feel. See below!

ORIGINAL

EDITED

2) CENTRAL PARK, NY. This is probably my favourite photo editing app to use at the minute, and it's called VSCO (although ColorStory comes in at a close second, check both out). It's no different to the filters that Instagram supply you with, other than it has a whole lot more editing options beyond that, and more colour gradients. The app is free and so are a selection of filters, but for more advanced options you do have to pay unfortunately! I like to use it to brighten my pictures and for landscapes, to give them a rustic feel.

ORIGINAL

EDITED

So I hope that helps (and simultaneously lets you know what an amazing time I had in the 'big apple'). I use these techniques on my personal Instagram account, but I don't see why I, and the rest of the team, can't start using them on the University Instagram to make our pictures stand out. So get downloading, social team! 

Hope this is useful, and I'd love to see if anyone tries any of these photo editing options in their own work, so please let me know! 

Until next time. Over and out. 

Looking forward to 2019!

Whilst most people are busy making plans and resolutions for the New Year, the Beds Marketing team have been busy working on the 2019 Undergraduate prospectus. Although 2019 may seem like a long way off for most, the 2019 UG prospectus will be appearing at a recruitment event near you from March.

We’ve been co-ordinating the list of courses that we offer, placing bets on how many times I will have to re-do the flat plan this year (my guess is eight – I’ll keep you updated), and liaising with various departments across the University to ensure that all of the information we hold is correct and up-to-date.

One of my favourite aspects of working on the prospectuses is working with the photographers to capture new images. We work with two freelance photographers (Roy Meta and Scene) who capture a range of images for us, from profile shots, to shots of students in situ.

It’s great to be able to get into some of the sessions and see first-hand what our students are working on, as well as the facilities available. This year we were able to see the new nursing simulation labs at both Luton and Bedford, and had the opportunity to explore the Forest School at our Bedford campus. We also had the opportunity to see some of our media and dance students in action.

This year we have renewed the profiles for most of the subject areas within the prospectus too. This provides us with a great opportunity to meet with some of our students and talk to them about their experiences at Bedfordshire, which we can then use to influence future communications.

We’ve also been getting into the Christmas spirit here in the Marketing department with Christmas jumpers and inflatable Christmas characters galore! As this will be my last blog before the holidays I'd like to wish you all happy holidays and I will see you in the New Year! 

Sara

Marketing Officer

Location, location, location

Last week I spent two days in Bedford with Spectrecom filming a location video to showcase our Bedford campus and some of the highlights of the town. The weather tried to hold us back on Wednesday so we focused on indoor shots, capturing footage from one of our dance classes, a performing arts class, and our very own SU bar, before heading over to the Harpur Centre to get some shots of the shopping centre.

Luckily for us the rain stopped around lunch time so we ventured outside and got some shots of the market, Bedford Corn Exchange and St. Paul's Church. We were then off once again, first to Priory Park and then to the cinema (to film I promise!).

The sun was out on Thursday so the team got some lovely shots along the Embankment, and, quite surprisingly, I was only asked once what we were doing! We also captured shots of the train station, Silver Street, Bedford Park and Bedford International Athletics Stadium; so a jam-packed couple of days!

The team also spent two days at Milton Keynes (thanks again Jenny and Pete!) capturing footage for a MK location video. We're already excited to see how they're going to look and we can't wait to share both videos with you in a couple of months.

With the video shoots last week and the photography shoots the week before, it's been a busy couple of weeks in the Marketing Department! This week I'm back in the office and working on our 2018 undergraduate prospectus (yes, already!), our applicant newsletters and some open day emails.

I'm also trying to arrange to film some industry talks and master classes, and some student interviews so I'm sure you'll see me around campus sometime soon.

A picture is worth a thousand words

By Sarah De Guzman, Marketing Manager

Perfecting the pose - on our
quest for the perfect marketing
pictures

Unsurprisingly, there's quite an emphasis placed on imagery when it comes to Marketing. After all, the more visual, the more it can drive engagement, right? Marketing is all about communicating value to our 'customers', and so presenting good marketing photos, makes for good marketing; as it not only conveys quality but also supports us in showcasing our 'products' and in telling the story of our brand.

We're all now living in the age of visual culture, where the focus is firmly placed on the 'show rather than tell' mentality. Don't get me wrong, there's still very much a place for the written word. Heck, we'd be out of a job if it wasn't for information hungry students; but the need to convey stories and to showcase reality means that there is a real appetite for rich media and dynamic visual content.

Projecting the right kind of content is a hot topic. With the latest technologies and must-haves, there's more or less a camera in everyone's pocket, and so practically anyone and everyone becomes a content generator. However, whilst we can all patrol campus armed with the latest iphone filled with snazzy apps and filters to capture those moments as they happen, in order to have that 'zing' factor, we bring in the professionals...

Campaign photoshoots in action -
Roy Mehta Photography

Over the last week we've worked with two professional photographers on a rather jam-packed schedule to support our Marketing work and increase of bank of photography. Scene Photography supports with our campus based imagery and architectural shots, and Roy Mehta specialises in portrait photography and executes our case studies and corporate campaign visuals.

We've spent a lot of time working on our visual identity, and carving out our creative proposition and point of differentiation. All of this culminated in this year's Clearing campaign visuals. If you haven't seen it yet, where have you been? The latest round of campaign photography was focused on plugging the gaps and expanding the range of campaign images we offer - we've broadened out to capture Sports Therapy, Psychology and Accounting & Finance, on top of the many subjects already being represented.

Prospectus cover shoot - with
Chris from Scene

In addition to the campaign photography, we've also been running the 2018 prospectus photography at the same time, which is no mean feat. You may have seen us running around campus over the last few days, dipping into classes to capture the latest goings on. The most challenging aspect of this photography by far, is the prospectus cover. A lot of emphasis is placed on this one single image. It's the one image that most of our enquirers may see as their first introduction to the University. It's the window in to university experience, and needs to appeal to a wide range of people from a wide range of backgrounds world-wide. No pressure then. Overall the shoots went really well, and the students who took part were great and incredibly giving of their time. Stay tuned over the next few weeks, and we'll keep you posted on our new imagery as the prospectus cover starts to take shape, as we select that one single 'hero' shot that sells the University.

Visual content is critical to marketing
and story telling strategies - source: Blog Hub Spot

The power of the image is reinforced by LifeLearn who state that when people hear information, they are likely to remember approximately 10%. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.

Good marketing photos which showcase our campuses, the latest facilities, and the student experience go a long way in engaging an audience as opposed to text alone. And I always find it fascinating that many companies, and indeed many universities, don't always invest in commissioning custom photography, and instead turn to stock. For us at Bedfordshire, that's not an option. We pride ourselves on showcasing the real student environment and working with real students across our prospectus and campaign photography to tell our story and to convey our brand narrative. We ensure that our visual identity is unique to us, and ultimately stands out in the mind's of our prospective students.

Top tips to get the most out of your visual content:

1. Mood board ideas - and build up a bank of images or ideas that inspire you; from poses to props, it's great to have visual inspiration to help shape your shoots
2. Consider the type of image you need - is it to showcase a course or event, or are you trying to present statistics in a visual way (ie through infographics which is fast becoming a powerhouse for any content strategy)
3. Use real students - as much as possible. What better advocates for a brand than to work with the people experiencing the University themselves
4. Refer to style guides - and brand guidelines as a helpful reference for an over-arching look and feel of the brand - whether it be for profiles and case studies, action shots to exterior architecture, that way the images work towards increasing a bank of good quality content that reinforces the brand and creative proposition
5. Be aware of your environment - from the people in the shots to cultural sensitivities. And also do a reckie around campus to scout out possible locations before the day - watching out for those pesky bins in the background!
6. Get creative - an don't be afraid to try shots and set ups that are slightly 'outside of the box' - there's only one way to see if it works - and that's to snap it!

Lights, camera, action!

Over the last couple of weeks, Kylie and I have spent a few days out and about at the different campuses with photographers for the 2016/2017 prospectuses. We've got some great images from the photo shoots and I'm really excited for everyone to see them once the prospectuses are published.

I was mainly working on profile shots, taking photos of individual students and filming them talking about their university experience. I really love this aspect as it gives me the chance to meet some of our students and hear their thoughts and opinions on their course and the university (although I spoke to one student about the Go Global programme and it's set off the travel bug - help!). 

Much to our surprise, the weather was on our side yesterday so we managed to get some really nice profile shots and group shots outside too! As much as I hate the cold this time of year brings, I do love the colours of Autumn!

It was really interesting to work with the photographers as they have such an intricate way of seeing things. I also got to act as the photographers assistant a couple of times and hold some of the lighting equipment - although knowing the price of the equipment made that a little scary!

We've also started writing and collating copy for the 2016/2017 UG prospectus. This is my first time working on the UG prospectus so it's really exciting for me to be involved in every aspect of the project.

A big thank you to all of the students that got involved with the photo shoots! And to anyone wondering how/if they can be involved in our next shoot, please drop me an email.

That's all from me for now,

Sara

No rest for the wicked

Some of you would think that now most of the students have finished for the summer our work might start to wind down...well let me assure you, you are very, very wrong! We seem to have entered a very busy (but very exciting) time in the Marketing Department!

This week I've been out of the office for a couple of days helping with the photo shoot for our annual campaign. It's something that I'd never done previously so it was great to meet the photographers, get an idea of how it all works and, most importantly, meet some of the students and graduates that were taking part in the campaign. As cliche as it may sound it was a really great experience for me to meet our students, past and current, and hear their thoughts and find out about some of the amazing things they've been getting up too! I also managed to get a sneak peek at some of the shots we'd taken and they looked great (even if I do say so myself!) so make sure you keep an eye out for them later on in the year!

Graduations have been taking place this week so there's been a lot of smartly dressed students and their families around campus the last few days! On Friday I'll be filming one of the graduations at St. Mary's so I'll have another chance to talk to some of our students and find out about their plans now they've graduated.

We're also sending the final proof of our PG prospectus to the designers this week. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read it but it's really great to see it all come together! I can't believe it's nearly over but there's already talk of the UG 2017 prospectus so I'm sure that'll keep me going!

You may have seen that our Clearing campaign has already started (if you haven't check out our micro-site) so I've been working on a few bits here and there to help Krystle. It's been really good for me as I'm getting to see all the different sections of the annual cycle!

I also helped out with the UCAS convention (I can't believe that was a whole month ago!) at the Bedford campus. This was a really fun day for me as I got to go over to Bedford and see the new Gateway building and speak to members of staff that I wouldn't normally come into contact with regularly. There was a really great atmosphere at the convention and it was nice to meet some potential students. It did however bring back a few memories of when I attended a UCAS convention which made me feel quite old!

I've also been keeping busy outside of work too (I told you there was no rest for the wicked), and a couple of weeks ago I took park in the 10k Race for Life in Stevenage. I only walked it but, as I'm not the fittest of people, it was a big achievement for me! I love doing the Race for Life as there's always a fantastic atmosphere in the air! One of the local radio stations was there to support the event and after crossing the finishing line we asked if they could play Taylor's shake it off so we could celebrate in style (no pun intended...it really did just happen)!

Another busy month!

I'm finding it hard to believe that a whole month has passed since my last post; it feels more like a few days! So much has happened in the last few weeks so I'm just going to pick out a few highlights to talk about…

Tender Pitches
As Krystle mentioned in the last post, the team was recently part of the panel listening to agencies pitch. My particular interest was in how the agencies presented their creative ideas for our 2016 suite of publications; as I'll be working with the team on the 2016 prospectuses, I wanted to know lots about the look and style of the publications but also the processes that will be help us reach an outstanding final result without too many issues along the way.
It was fascinating to see how each agency approached the tender process in their own unique way, and some of the creative ideas they came up with were really impressive. I found it a massive challenge to pick a favourite at the end of the day!

Can't wait to see what the 2016
prospectuses will look like!

 2016 Prospectuses

While we finish off our work on the 2014 entry and start work on the 2015 cycle, the Marketing Team has begun work on the 2016 suite of prospectuses! So, as well as trying not to get confused, I've been working with Kylie to arrange a photo shoot for prospectus images. The shoot is due to take place at the end of October. We'll be taking profile photos of students and also photographing as many of our brilliant facilities as we can.

Verbal Brand

In that past week or two I've met up with colleagues from the Students' Union and the Department of Computer Science and Technology. In these meetings we've discussed the University's new Verbal Brand strategy.
As ever, it's great to talk to colleagues. I always come away from meetings like these full of new knowledge about the impressive things that are going on in the University. The verbal brand project is exciting because it's going to allow us to use all the information we find out to positively explain what we do here and why we do it so well.

Catch up soon.

Clare