How to get media coverage during ‘silly season’

As it turns out, this is my last blog post of 2017. Where has the year gone?!

As some of my fellow PRs will know very well, this time of year is affectionately known as ‘silly season’ – a time of year when journalists far and wide have run out of stories and content.

Journalists take annual leave and leave their newsrooms short-staffed and their websites lacking in news. Anything that pops up in their inboxes is more likely to get their attention now than at any other time of year, simply because they are desperate for content.

So I thought I would pull together a few tips on how press officers in universities (and other organisations for that matter) can take advantage of this time of year to get some publicity.

Be creative

With so little news around, this could be your chance to flag up ideas that might be overshadowed at busier times. A funny story, an inspiring case study, some quirky research – all these things might grab a journo’s attention.

Piggy-back on stuff

There may not be much news around, but as we all know, that can change in a heartbeat. Has an airline gone bust? Pitch out your tourism academics! Specific health issues making the headlines? Dig out your researchers who can offer some words of wisdom. Even if it’s just a line in an article, it’s better than nothing!

Be a journalist’s best friend

A mentor once told me that we as PRs provide a service to journalists, and as such, we should provide the best service we can. If you can’t help a journalist with their enquiry, direct them to someone who can – even if it’s a competitor. There’s nothing in it for you, but the journo will remember the kind gesture and may come to you again in the future with something you can help with.

Get festive

Don’t underestimate the power of a good Christmassy story. Whether you’re fundraising for charity or encouraging colleagues to wear daft festive jumpers, all these are potential news stories, especially if you’ve got good images to go with them.

Pester your SU

Students’ Unions are a brilliant place to find news stories, especially around Christmas. I have found that quite often SUs are rushed off their feet with other things, so if you can give them a helping hand to get some media coverage for their festive events, they’ll love you forever!  

With that said, there’s nothing left for me to do but wish you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, full of excellent PR opportunities and lots of media coverage!

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

**{~first-name~}[URGENT!] This FR££ EMAIL will change your life!**

Firstly introductions are in order. Hello my name is David Fryer and I am the new Marketing Manager at the University of Bedfordshire. Over the last few months I have been trying to catch up with existing projects, future projects, on-going work and upcoming work.

A huge part of our team’s remit is to email enquirers & applicants from a marketing perspective. We tell them about our courses, locations, fees and different ways to study. You get the idea.

So with that in mind I thought it would be useful to explain some of my thoughts on how to create more engaging emails.

Ready?

Ok so here is a quick question to get things started. Which email would you prefer getting the most, one from a close friend with a nice catch up message or one from a company trying to sell you something?

No brainer right?

So when you are writing an email for a campaign or to provide information to an interested party what do you do? It’s so easy to just copy text sent to you from a colleague about a particular subject or event, add a custom name field to personalise it and send it out. But let’s be honest deep down you know that it’s not going to really engage the majority of people on your contact list.

What we are looking to achieve is that same feeling or similar to that lovely email that you get from a close friend, one you trust and also are eager to hear from.

Ok so here we go…

No more contact lists 

Don’t treat your contacts as a group, think about the individual at an early stage. Who are they, what are they interested in and how do they want to be spoken to?

Don’t waste people’s time 

Only send an email when you really have something useful to say. Don’t write an email that requires something from your readers. Instead be helpful, friendly provide relevant information for that person.

Use your actual name 

Putting your name at the bottom of an email is one thing but if it comes from a generic email address your readers will very quickly notice so put your name and reputation on the line that is the best way to be personal.

Be trustworthy 

Let people know what to expect. Yes, sales messages should be part of your email marketing and that’s fine but just be clear about it when they sign up to your emails.

Don’t be creepy

Personalise emails, but don’t repeat people’s name too often.

Be on their side 

Remind people that they’re not alone. Tell them you understand their struggles. Empathize with them, and offer help and assistance.

A reward for reading 

Make sure people benefit from reading your emails. How? Share a useful tip or piece of information.

Spark their curiosity 

Don’t be afraid to occasionally use unusual words or phrases, get your readers interested and wanting to read on to find out more. “Do you want to know the number one reason students choose to study with us?”

Don’t be clever 

Simple, specific subject lines beat clever alternatives every time, too many symbols pound signs explanation marks will only get blocked.

Experiment

Try new subject lines, change tone of voice between enquirer and applicant. Doing something new and exciting not only keeps it fresh for you but also for your readers.

Write fast 

Because that’s how your enthusiasm and personality come through.

Short and sweet 

Long and rambling emails kill your readers’ interest. Try to cut your text by half when you edit.

Ask questions

Imagine having a face-to-face conversation with your reader. You’d ask questions in that situation, wouldn’t you?

Don’t follow a strict formula

Email templates quickly bore your readers, make sure to mix it up.

The harsh truth about emails
Everyone’s inbox is overflowing with lots of irrelevant unopened messages, no one is looking forward to receiving more of that.

If someone has taken the time to open and read your email and has decided that they don’t want to unsubscribe you should feel grateful. People’s time is precious and needs to be treated with respect, don’t take anyone’s attention for granted.

Ok so there you go, my first blog is complete! Hopefully, you found it a useful read. As a complete side note I would like to thank everyone over in MARC for welcoming me to the team.

 If you have any marketing related queries feel free to contact myself and the team.

(Sorry I could not make your hair longer Ellie ran out of time!)

Reflecting on last week’s Graduations, and why I didn’t go to mine

Last week we had graduation ceremonies at the Luton campus, which are exciting and hectic in equal measure.

Though not as busy as the summer ceremonies, the November graduations as just as important for recognised the achievements of our students, and we attend as many as we can to capture the joy and excitement of the day.

Here's a few snaps yesterday's #BedsGrads - the full album can be viewed here: https://t.co/0ShBKihNyo pic.twitter.com/DQ0sEvWP3a

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 17, 2017

I‘ve sat in on countless graduations, tweeting (using the hashtag #BedsGrads), writing down quotes for the press release later, and there is always a danger of forgetting how special the day is to the students graduating, as well as their family and friends, especially when your head is down and you’re furiously scribbling away.

Then you’ll hear a name you recognise. When you look up, there is a student you interviewed for a press release a year or so ago collecting their degree. It’s during those moments that I feel a sense of pride, especially if I know they have been through a tough time to get to that ceremony and collect their degree.

I detested my graduation –I begrudging went to the ceremony after I got my degree, but refused to go to the one after I finished my Master’s. Sometimes I regret, mostly I don’t!

It was mostly because the year I spent doing my Master’s at Kingston University was one of the hardest of my life so far, so much so I nearly quit. So when it came to the end, I was glad to see the back of it.

But whenever I go home to see my parents, there are two photos on the wall you can’t fail to notice. The photos are of my sister and me in our graduation caps and gowns (my sister graduated a few years before me from Southampton Solent.)

Both my parents had very successful careers - my dad was an air traffic controller and my mum until recently ran her own business. Neither of them went to university. They were from working class backgrounds in a time when going to university was just not an option for them. So the fact that both their children went through Higher Education must mean an awful lot to them.

My point is that behind every student at graduation is a family – parents, guardians, partners, children and friends – a small army of supporters willing them on to succeed. And every student has fought their own battles to get their degrees, many of which were probably fought in private.

Congrats to the @uniofbeds #Classof2017! #BedsGrads 🎉🙌🎓 pic.twitter.com/GJZUxhN2YZ

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 16, 2017

So to the Class of 2017, I salute you!    

By the way, our press releases about graduations are now online, so please do take a look.

Civic University - is now the right time?

Civic universities? Well, they sound like a lot of fun. What are they? Where do I sign up?

Hang on; what are they? Do we have un-civic universities??

Woah.... In short, and after some hard-hitting desk research (three cuppa exercise), the civic university can be summarised as an institution working towards the 'community good'; focusing and acting as a regional 'anchor institution'. There's a wider beautifully honed Powerpoint on one of my intranet pages. Or you can look on line for some wonderfully opaque diagrams. Like this:

Err, ok

Don't we do "civic" already? What's driving the agenda?
Right. The idea of a civic university is excellent, though one - I'd suggest - that many institutions have been applying for years.

Higher Education is, however, under the cosh. Headlines about VC salaries suggest self-serving fat cat academics - or fat-catDemics - diverting money from poor students and thus inflating fees, reducing WP missions and generally bringing on financial meltdown. Yes, most VCs are paid salaries the rest of us can only dream of, but carving and distributing a quarter of a million quid and distributing it even to a small student population of, say 10,000 barely raises an extra 60p a week, per student, over a 42 week academic year.

The whole media stance and political point scoring is a bit stinky whichever way you look at it. It's hardly on the same scale as the sort of ludicrous mess our friends the bankers got us into a few years ago.

Good. Myth debunked. Sort of. What about this Heaton-Harris fellow?
Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris' request for details about the way universities teach Europe and Brexit which commentators outside the sector have compared to the McCarthy purges of the 1950s.

The McCartney witch trials

All of which is leading to a good deal of 'harrumphing' and sneering at the higher education sector and precisely the sort of moaning stunned pro-EU "snowflakes" are accused of. Makes my blood boil.

But hang on, there's the Green League rankings.....
This should receive more attention than either of the areas already under discussion - not least because we did very well (6th place; YEH!) - but it won't. The Green League ranking will also doubtless be buried under other news stories coming out - directly or indirectly - from the sector's push into the 'market'.

So, civic universities is a rearguard action?
Well yes and no. No, obviously. But maybe a bit 'yes' . While many of the principles of the civic university are written into most post-94 institutions' DNA, the recent accentuation may be an attempt to mirror the bluff and bravura surrounding more negative stories.

On the other hand, there may be something in trumpeting universities' civic agendas (agendi?) to justify or explain inroads and universities' increasing interest and gains from Further Education.

But still, there's a load of good stuff in the civic university agenda, much of which is reflected in our very own Strategic Plan. It's difficult to tell if the drive towards civic responsibility is 2017's version of the clamour for the central place of the student consumer which was raging a few years ago - it seems like the two are going to run together, applying even more pressure on universities.


Right, I'm off for a winter break. See you all soon. Comments below always welcome.

Hi, مرحبا, 你好

Hi, my name is Ibraham and this is my first blog post. I have been asked to write a blog and I am happy to do that.

Anyhow, let me introduce myself dear reader. I was born in the UK, grew up in Jordan, Middle East, lived for a while in China and then came back to the UK. I am a fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) a think tank/social action establishment whose slogan is “21st century enlightenment”. I have graduated from this lovely university with a bachelor degree in Business Studies International. I enjoy books, volunteering, sports and philosophy.

My greatest passion currently is social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs, start-up social enterprises if you are not familiar with a social enterprise I like to define it as: A charity that makes money that has enhanced impact and is sustainable. Currently in the UK a social enterprise has 3 times the start-up rate, compared to a conventional business. Furthermore, according the IOD (Institute of Directors) they said that social enterprise is the future of business in the UK. Lastly, the UK has the largest social enterprise sector to date in the world. For instance Co-op and fair trade are examples of a social enterprise.

At the university, I work as the Policy and Events Assistant in the Vice Chancellor’s office. This is my first ‘proper’ job and I am really excited about this. As to what I do, I spend my days chasing cats……. well, not really. I help out with policy work, events and I spend one day a week with MARC to help out with whatever needed. So far, I have been really enjoying this job and I have met a lot of interesting people. I had no idea, the extent of systems and structures that the university employ.

Also, it is the same establishment I could notice differences between the departments I work at for example the Vice Chancellor’s Office has many visitors, people do get along well and everyone is just lovely. On the other hand, at the MARC department they are easy going with a friendly atmosphere. However, I can’t seem to make up my mind to who is my favourite.

I started working at the end of September of this year and I am on a graduate placement. I have learned a great deal and I am looking forward to learning more during the following months.

If you could spare a few hours in the week why not volunteer. There are lot of organisations that could use your skills and experience. Especially people as talented as yourself.

Lastly, I hope you have enjoyed this piece and if there is anything I can help you with please do tell me. I am also learning Law and I am bit stuck on this one, so feel free to contact me, if you are willing to give any advice.

Thank you J  

Marketing for Gen Z, by a Millennial

One thing has become very apparent to me over the last few years, and that is that I’m what the analysts and psychologists call a ‘millennial’. As well as this, I’ve learnt that being a ‘millennial’ means that pretty much everyone in the world hates us. Parents hate us because they think we're privileged and rude and we don't care enough about our elders to look after them as they grow old. Companies hate us because there's no rhyme or reason to our spending habits, social media usage or where we can be found in the market. Teachers hate us because they claim we've 'never been told no' and they can't deal with our attitude problems. Essentially, as a generation, I’m well aware that we’re not really liked or appreciated by anyone.

Bit sombre to start a jolly marketing blog post with huh? But that’s just how I feel. I being me, Ellie, the new Marketing Assistant by the way. Nice to meet you! I swear I’m not always this dark and full of self-loathing – I’m actually probably the loudest person in a room at any given time. I also have an undying love for bright coloured lipsticks, stationery and any kind of mint chocolate. I imagine you’ll be able to spot me from a mile away. I’m newly graduated from Bournemouth University with a Media and Communications degree so I’ve dabbled in pretty much every sector under the media/marketing sun. I also did a placement year with the Walt Disney Company that people tell me to mention a lot when I’m speaking about myself. (All jokes aside, as well as having a very large name, the very large company taught me almost everything I know about working hard and efficiently. And having fun, see above!). And now I’m working here and ranting at you about millennial issues!

What I think I’m trying to explain is that being a ‘millennial’ or a ‘Gen Z’ - which most of our target market are - is not something to resent. They’re not aliens and they don’t hate everything, they just want to be intelligently targeted. Their whole worlds are consumed by media (some by choice, some not) and they’re just muddling through, trying to decide what’s important, what’s genuine and what inspires them. I would know.

What it means is that we (UoB) have scope to do newer things now more than ever before. Embrace the ‘young people’ for what they are and move on. Including me! I don’t know whether it’s because I’m new and determined to prove myself or just because I know how much of an impact the MARC team can have on a student’s experience, but I’m the closest thing we’ve got to a ‘millennial/Gen Z’ right now. PLEASE USE ME! Whether it’s a communication that sounds a bit corporate or a design feature that needs updating, there’s a strong chance I might be able to give you an idea of what might work for our audience. It wasn’t so long ago that I was going through the uni application process myself.

So yeah. There’s my mini introduction and a rant about how everyone hates millennial’s but targeting them isn’t so hard after all! If you’ve got any questions and/or areas of contention, please come and have a chat. I genuinely love what I’ve studied and what I now have a career in (how bizarre, right!?) so I’m always happy to talk about it.

Until next time. Over and out. 

(This picture's for you Andy and David, isn't this what you're always telling me?!)