Raising the University of Bristol’s global profile and growing postgraduate applications by showing the real-world impact of its research.
- ClientUniversity of Bristol
- SectorHigher education
- ChannelsProgrammatic, search, social, out-of-home, video on demand
- AwardsHEIST Gold and Bronze
Winner of Gold for Best Brand or Reputation Campaign and Bronze for Best Postgraduate Student Recruitment Campaign at the HAVAS HEIST Awards.
The challenge
The University of Bristol had ambitious postgraduate recruitment targets, but market research showed it was flying under the radar internationally.
To compete, it needed to change perceptions through powerful storytelling that brought its values to life. And it needed to build audiences early in the funnel, creating brand recall and capturing data ready for later conversion activity – essential in such a competitive market.
What I did
Leading a 30-strong multidisciplinary team, I developed a stand-out creative and advertising campaign, aligned to Bristol’s reputational and recruitment priorities, with tailored strands for different audiences.
- Creative that stands out. We worked with creative agency psLondon to develop bold new advertising that helped Bristol cut through a crowded market
- Stories worth telling. We created a storytelling framework to find and develop the university’s most powerful stories, told through the eyes of academics, students and alumni
- Smart targeting. With digital advertising agency Hybrid and internal stakeholders, we developed the segmentation and targeting strategy, using broad interest targeting to build awareness in priority regions
- The right channels. A comprehensive media plan reached the right audiences, at the right time, across programmatic, search, social, out-of-home and video on demand
- Engaging assets. We produced new videos (many with Bristol-based production company Jones Millbank), adverts and campaign landing pages
- Customer focus throughout. User research and testing at every stage kept the audience at the heart of every touchpoint
Founding of Autism Independence
Changing the world for people with diabetes
The results
The campaign beat every target it was set.
impressions – 17% above target
target website clicks (984,640)
postgraduate applications in 12 months
- 1.90% click-through rate – 1.64 points above target
- £0.07 cost per click – 86% below target
- 65,198 visits to campaign landing pages – 263% above target
- Positive brand uplift across every measure in post-campaign surveys
Beyond the numbers, the campaign brought internal teams together on an exciting, collaborative project, boosting morale and strengthening relationships. It also created a blueprint for future campaigns, with other teams reusing its model and content for their own work.
“Sophie’s ability to think outside the box allows her to create original content that stands out from the crowd.”
Chris Harding, Content Marketing Manager, University of Bristol
