The Problem
Newcastle College serves over 20,000 learners from their main campus in the heart of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and at nine satellite sites in and around the city, as well as four community-outreach venues across the North East. The college works with hundreds of regional businesses and contributes almost £244m to the regional economy.
Amidst stiff competition, the brief was to realize their ambitious student recruitment targets and position Newcastle College as a market leader within the further education sector for 16-18 year olds and adults.
We researched past, current and future students, to help understand what they wanted from a college and what they thought of Newcastle College in particular.
We then reviewed the regional and national competition, to understand their positioning and to explore creatively how they speak to students.
The results were less than inspiring, but the barriers to adoption did show themselves.
The Intelligent Idea
Be Your Best at Newcastle College.
Let our college be the canvas, the inspiration, for all students to be the best they can be.
The Solution
Create an agile multi-channel campaign, with SoMe at the heart of the conversation.
We created assets that reflected the gravitas of this period in a students’ life and cleverly mixed emotionally and rationally led messages, showcasing the college, the teaching, the experience and the learners themselves.
The Results
775k SoMe impressions.
170k watched the created video content from start to finish.
Nearly 90% of new students recalled the advertising.
Enrolment campaign web page views increased by nearly 70%.
SoMe followers increased by 25%.
Their Edurank online presence is up 20 places year on year to 9th position.
All of the above translated to 104% student recruitment and their best year ever.
The Happy Client
It’s been a pleasure working with StarkHartleyAtkinson on our summer recruitment campaign and we’re delighted with the results.
The campaign really hit the brief – it has energy, creates a sense of aspiration, showcases the USP’s of Newcastle College, all backed up by the agency’s commitment to exceptional production values.
Our 16-18 recruitment has exceeded expectations and we’re in a much stronger position than previous years.
