UK universities are invited to join the British Council’s 2017 UK University Subject Specific Media Campaign from September to November 2017. The campaign will promote a number of specific subject areas to audiences in China through key media outlets, using advertorials that showcase the participating UK universities’ most outstanding courses, including student testimonials, academic insights, and the latest research developments.

Background

In today’s increasingly media-literate society, media is becoming a powerful tool for sharing key messages with a wide audience. China in particular has hundreds of media and social media channels, making it difficult to know which channels to leverage and how to effectively promote content. The British Council’s 2017 UK University Subject Specific Media Campaign will support participating universities in leveraging the right media channels to promote their most attractive subjects to a far reaching audience in China.

About the advertorials
The advertorials will showcase participating universities’ key subjects through alumni stories, interviews with academics, and discussions of the latest research and teaching methods. They will promote UK education as a whole and raise the profile of the participating universities in China.

The advertorials will be between 1,000 to 1,500 words in length, starting with a general outline of the subject area (provided by the British Council), followed by selected content from up to three participating institutions.  

Please note: a maximum of three universities may participate in one advertorial.

Subject areas

The following subject areas and themes have been selected by the British Council for inclusion in the campaign, based on the latest market trends and current priorities of the Chinese government.

Subject areas:

• health and life sciences;
• advanced engineering and manufacturing;
• communications, culture and media studies;
• computer science, gaming and internet technology;
• art, design and creative subjects.

Themes:

• innovation;
• employability;
• entrepreneurship.

Participation fee

The British Council will charge a £2,500 participation fee* per subject area or theme, which will cover overall media management, advertorial editing, advertorial distribution, and a report at the end of the campaign, as well as comprehensive briefings for UK universities before the campaign.

*Not including VAT

Benefits for participating UK universities (per subject area/theme)

• Selected content featured in the five most influential national print media outlets in China, with an estimated circulation of 4.5 million;
• One post on the British Council’s official Education UK Weibo account (100,000 followers);
• One post on the British Council’s official Education UK Wechat account (110,000 followers);
• Potential to be approached by journalists for individual media interviews and further feature stories.

Responsibilities of participating universities

Participating UK universities are encouraged to provide the below content for inclusion in the advertorials:

• Course introduction, course structure, relevant research achievements, links to industries and reputable faculties;
• Subject specific unique selling points;
• Quotes from academics; 
• Quotes/stories from alumni or current students;
• High-resolution photos (with copyright).

Please note: the British Council will select suitable content for the advertorials based on the content submitted by the participating universities, and in line with media trends and interests. Not all submitted content will be featured in the advertorials.

Timeline

Please note, the above timeline is for reference purposes only and is subject to change.