Clearing the way

By Sarah Hampton - Marketing Manager

In my last post, back in July, I mentioned that we’d started off the preparation for our 2015 publications. Well, a lot has happened since then. The briefs have been written, the print specs have been set, and our tender has now officially gone out with the help of the University’s procurement team. It’s all very exciting. So, it’s over to the creative agencies now to impress us with their designs. Our creative pitches are due next month, and so we’ll be able to bring you more details on the tender then – so continue to watch this space as we keep you informed.

Tube car panels - London underground

We’re now well into this years’ clearing campaign, but then you already knew that didn’t you? Our campaign has been bigger and better than ever, and we’re getting a lot of fantastic, positive comments from staff and students alike, as they see their University’s presence out en masse in the community. Last week Michelle and I took a trip down to London to meet with CBS Outdoor, as they gave us a run through of all of our media platforms where we could see our campaign running live – it was also a great opportunity to see what all of our competitors are doing, and how we compare! As marketers, we’re always keen to be sussing out the competition and benchmarking the work that we do on our quest for perfection.

Your Guide to Starting
with us - 2013

Clearing has definitely been a big team effort. Rehanna has also been busy over the last few weeks with our publication that is sent to all new starters, entitled Your Guide to Starting with us. This publication was delivered to our Admissions team ready to send out with our student offer letters on results day. Since it was printed, we have had a lot of colleagues from the wider University getting in touch to tell us what they think (all very positive, of course!), and wanting to get more involved in this key publication, which is great for us! We’re always keen to involve others in our work. It's the first year that we have sent this to both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students, so we're very interested to see what our students think. Take a look at the online version of this guide.

Time to celebrate!

In other news, I'm very pleased to share with you that earlier today I was appointed to the permanent role of Marketing Manager for the University of Bedfordshire - yay me! I'm very excited to get my teeth into this new role and look forward to being able to inject my creativity into our upcoming plans and projects - so be sure to keep your eye on this blog as we share ideas and tackle next years' marketing challenges. For my first week as the new manager I'll be off to the Case Conference in Manchester to soak up lots of knowledge and network with other Marketers in the sector, so if you too will be at the Case Conference, don't be a stranger! 

Back to Beds...!

by Rehanna Khan, Marketing Assistant

Hi Everyone

I'm back after a lovely week of celebrating the end of Ramadan with a a very festive Eid (which also marks the first day of the next Islamic month - Shawaal)! I cooked, I ate, I ate some more... and more... and enjoyed a wonderful time surrounded by loved ones. It was an epic continuum of eating glorious food with the people I adore  - looking forward to it again next year :)

Back in the office, things are buzzing - it's clearing fever all around. And though it's busy, we fear not! As per each year, our Admissions Team have a sophisticated system set up which inlcudes an ample number of in-house operators, an overflow call centre (so no-one is left on hold) and a special call back team. So if you know anyone, or are someone who is themself interested in studying with us, then give us a call on 0800 013 0925 - but don't leave it too long, I hear we're filling up places pretty quick! :) 

Did you know Lauren is now part of the Digital Team? Of course you do :) But I had to have my say. As Lauren used to sit opposite me, I came back to an empty space *sob sob*. Though if I strain my ear hard enough, I can hear her laughter a few yards away. It's great to know she's still part of the wider team and I'm extremely pleased for her. I guess now the search begins for the Marketing Team's next marketing assistant... Speaking of which, we're due to appoint a new Marketing Manager next week. These are exciting times indeed.




Until the next time, adios amigos :)
Rehanna

One month in and busy with exciting Graduation, Clearing and other campaigns

By Scott Buist – Marketing Assistant

Well what can I say? It’s been a busy four weeks since I started working within the University’s marketing team and I’ve settled in well. I feel I understand the dynamics of the team now and have a much better understanding of the University and how it operates.

As a team we have all been very busy with various different projects which we are running. Namely our subject guides which are now almost finished. We’re working closely with our in house designer to make sure they’ve got the most up-to-date and exciting information in them, ready to send to our Undergraduate students later in September. The main difference this year is that they’re going to be digital versions only, so watch this space for when they go live on our website. As mentioned in the previous blog posts, our 2014 prospectus has been put to bed and is with the printers – we’re really excited to see the printed thing after all of this time. Plans are now well underway for our 2015 publications; plan early as they say!

I am currently working on our award-winning e-zine: PG Life, which we send to our Postgraduate enquirers and subscribers each month, and so far it’s going well. I’ve been out and about on campus this week interviewing some of our students which you’ll be able to see in the next issue. We are working to a tight deadline but I am sure we will succeed. Sign up via: www.beds.ac.uk/pgstudy if you’re not already subscribed. And, if you have any University news and stories to share with us, let us know – we’re always on the hunt for exciting content to share with our prospective students.

Normally it would be Sarah and Lauren who produce the e-zine, but for the next month or so it’s all down to me! I wanted to say a huge congratulations to Lauren who having completed a degree in digital media; her move over to our digital team seems like a natural career path for her and I am sure she will love it and, it’s only a stone’s throw away from us at the moment, so I am sure we will be able to benefit from her expertise.

With Clearing about to kick off this week (15 August to be precise), I am sure that the next few weeks will keep us all as busy, if not more so than we have already been.

There's no stopping us now

By Michelle Ramsumair - Marketing Administrator

Here's my proof!

I have come back to the buzzing office after a couple days off. One of these days included climbing through the trees, pushing your body to the limit and playing Tarzan. Let me put it this way, Go Ape is amazing and highly recommended, but then I soon realised, coming back to work, that Clearing is very much the same as it's just as crazy! As I don’t have any photos, certain colleagues such as Lauren doubt my adventurous side.

Clearing campaign 2013 (bus rear)

August has finally arrived and ongoing preparations for this busy month and Clearing continue. No matter how prepared we are, it will only get busier, but our teams are ready to hit the ground running come 15 August, so bring it on! If you haven’t seen already or read the previous post, our Clearing campaign has started early this year.

We have a lot going on from buses and billboards which are already up, to...well...you will just have to wait and see. Other universities have begun early this year too, so as well as our own promoting we are keeping an eye out to see who is doing what. It’s rather interesting and nothing wrong with some healthy competition. I managed to catch a glimpse of our advert on some buses locally and in London.

Maurice the Marketing Penguin

Lauren’s last week with us has arrived sadly. However, she is just moving to the Digital Marketing team which is a stone throw away on the next pod. So we will just have to shout a little louder to speak to her really. We are all very happy for her moving upwards and it’s nice to know we will still be supporting one another.  

Celebrations, campaigns and clearing

By Sarah Hampton - Marketing Manager

Our blog posts are coming in thick and fast, and we’re very excited to be sharing an insight into all of our work and the many projects that we’re working on at the moment.

Postgraduate 2014 Prospectus

This week has seen the culmination of five months’ hard work come to an end, as we approve the 2014 Postgraduate Prospectus for print. Working on our prospectuses forms a key part of the work we do here in the Marketing team, and so we were very pleased to get another one under our belt this week. At the time of writing this blog post our latest prospectus has made its way over to Mansfield (where our external printer is based) and is currently on press. Here’s a sneak peek (left) at the cover. You can also flick through it online – we hope you will all like it as much as we do!

Just as one project comes to an end, another one begins. And the fact that we are already preparing for our next Undergraduate Prospectus, for 2015 entry, is an incredibly scary thought. More on this in future posts, as we approach the Prospectus tender stage and the creative pitches – my favourite time of the year!

For any of you who happened to be at our graduation ceremonies last week, I’m sure you will have seen a member of the Marketing team roaming around, armed with a video camera and microphone as we join in on the festivities of the day. Scott and Lauren ventured out to interview some of our graduates at both our Luton and Putteridge Bury campuses last week, and spoke to some of our graduates about their time at Bedfordshire. They were also on a mission to capture the fantastic buzzy atmosphere that comes with celebrating our students’ success. You’ll be able to see the video interviews in the next issue of our award-winning monthly e-zine, Postgraduate Life. If you’re not already subscribed to receive it then fear not, as you can sign up here.

Congratulations to all graduates from the University of Bedfordshire who are celebrating their success today! @uniofbeds
— Iliyan Nanchev (@IliyanNanchev) July 23, 2013

August is by far one of our busiest months for us as we prepare for Clearing. The team has been hard at work for the last few months; working with creative agencies to develop our campaign visuals; our key messages; arranging photo shoots; and devising and costing out the activities that will form our marketing campaign for this years’ Clearing period. Since some of our visuals have now gone live, we can exclusively share some highlights with you. We currently have some outdoor media up and running including bus advertising, both in the local area and in London. Keep looking out for other aspects of our campaign over the coming weeks, and be sure to let us know what you think.

Clearing Campaign 2013 (bus rear)

Watch this space for more Clearing updates as our campaign gets rolled out.

All change!

By Lauren Hague - Marketing Assistant

Well what can I say, no week in marketing is ever the same, and I can definitely say that for the past week!

Firstly we have shortlisted for another award, this time the CIPR PRide awards for the Best External Publication for our Postgraduate Prospectus! 

We are all very proud. Not only does a lot of work go into the finished publication but the actual award submissions can be pretty grueling too. You often have to prove how you have met the objectives set and prove why the publication was not only successful but innovative too. This sometimes involves a great deal of number crunching and some (a lot of) pestering of our Market Research Manager for help with the research! (Thank you Andy!)  So it is always nice when our hard work pays off and we are shortlisted.

Wayhay! We have been shortlisted for a #CIPR #PRide award for Best External Publication for our Postgraduate Prospectus! Happy Friday :)
— The PG Team (@uobpg) July 26, 2013

This week are nearing the sign off of the new postgraduate prospectus, which we are all very excited about, it, is always great to see a project completed (and off our desks!) Just in time to start working on the revamp of the UCMK prospectus.

Me, Rehanna and Scott are also currently working on updating 13 subject guides between us. These are designed to show prospective undergraduate students what is going on in their subject area they are interested in. They contain news stories, student profiles, what courses are available, what the facilities are like and staff updates. I like doing these kinds of jobs as it means a lot of liaising with different departments and is a great way to update your knowledge about what is going on around the University, which is vital when you are working in marketing.

Bye Bye Marketing pod! :(

In other news… it’s all change again in the team as I will be leaving *sob *sob. I have accepted a position in the Digital Marketing Team as Digital Marketing Officer. I won’t be going too far (3 rows of desks to be exact) and will still be working closely with the team but in digital capacity instead. I am very excited about taking on the role and to get stuck in. I did my degree in Digital Media Design so digital communication is where my interest lies.

Hello Digital Marketing pod!

I have loved working in my team and will be sad not to be sitting with them anymore (which will just mean more lunches to catch up!),  I have learnt an enormous amount since I have started and great deal of that is down to the team taking the time and being patient enough to show me. Thank you!:-D 

So overall I’d say a pretty good week all in all. Shortlisted for an award and a new job, can’t complain…

New member of the team!

By Scott Buist - Marketing Assistant

So I wanted to introduce myself as the newest member of the team. I very recently started (Monday last week) and can’t believe I’m two weeks into the job already! Time fly’s when you’re busy and that’s certainly what we are. I am employed to help the marketing team of the University of Bedfordshire during this very busy period, helping with all sorts from clearing to the new prospectus.

My first week was a bit hectic as all jobs are when you are learning the ropes. We had a team meeting within two hours of me starting, where Sarah, Michelle, Lauren and Rehanna were all discussing progress on their various projects and future ones. I had a blank face through some of it, but was fast making notes to look up when I got back. It was a quick learning curve to say the least!

Currently my mind has eased as I have a much better understanding of how the University operates. I have been given some exciting projects which I have got stuck into. I’m sure some of you will see my handy work in publications such as the new subject guides and the new Postgraduate prospectus, which are going to print as I write this message!.

 Hope you all have a great day. Let’s all hope this lovely weather continues!