A student recruitment campaign with individuals at its heart.
University of Central Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire was looking for a new creative concept for their 2023 student recruitment campaign.
The campaign needed to gain maximum engagement with both UK and international students.
A student recruitment campaign with individuals at its heart.
University of Central Lancashire
Project summary
Animation
Concept development
Copywriting
Digital and print collateral
Graphic design
Tone of voice guidance
Visual identity development
Approach
Our competitor research confirmed that universities tend to place the focus on themselves and why they’re the right choice, rather than putting students at the centre. Our concept did the opposite. At the University of Central Lancashire, the support on offer to students is unparalleled - encouraging them to grow in whichever form that may take. Our concept needed to communicate this.
Our campaign concept – ‘We see YOU’ – focused on the theme of potential and echoed the University’s commitment to support all students in reaching that potential. The concept was about the real-life experience of the individual and the promise the University would support them on their journey, whatever they wanted to achieve. We demonstrated how we could showcase the hands on, practical industry-ready experience students would receive at the University as a way of bringing that vision to life.
We designed the concept to be flexible enough to adapt to the different audiences (undergraduate, postgraduate and international) and different stages of the attraction process, but with a strong and simple message which would be memorable and consistent.
We created a campaign toolkit which demonstrated how the new concept could be applied to a range of different collateral, including digital assets and out of home executions. This toolkit also included guidance on keeping the application of the new identity accessible to the audience.
As part of the campaign roll-out, we developed the following assets for the University to use:
Campaign toolkit
UCAS fairs stands
University prospectuses
Animated graphics
Campaign video/motion and audio guidance
Impact
Following the launch of this campaign, undergraduate applications were up 44.6% in 2023. And international student enrolments rose by 37.9%.
Our new creative concept was brought to life through an incredible new campaign film, which was played in cinemas across the North West last summer before blockbusters like Marvel’s Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness and Fantastic Beasts, The Secrets of Dumbledore.
"I’ve found Eleven really easy to work with. They’ve worked at speed to deliver what we need (sometimes within challenging deadlines). And we’re very pleased with the resulting creative. I’d happily recommend Eleven to other universities looking for a collaborative, creative and responsive agency partner."
